Copyright by

Duc Hong Huynh

2010

The Thesis committee for Duc Hong Huynh
Certifies that this is the approved version of the following thesis:



Caodai Spiritism:
Hybrid Individuals, Global Communities



APPROVED BY
SUPERVISING COMMITTEE
Supervisor: __________________________________________
Nancy Stalker
__________________________________________
Mark Metzler


Caodai Spiritism:
Hybrid Individuals, Global Communities


by



Duc Hong Huynh, B.S.

Thesis



Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School
of the University of Texas at Austin
in Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements
for the Degree of

Master of Arts


The University of Texas at Austin
May 2010

iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS


This work would not have been possible without the assistance and guidance from those
around me. It is not only a culmination of achievements throughout my academic career, but just
as much a testament of the moral support I have received frommy mentors, friends, and family.
First and foremost, I would like to thank the members of my thesis committee for helping
me throughout the entire process in providing clarity for my topic and in offering sound advice
during the editing process. I express the highest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Nancy Stalker, for
pointing me into the direction of New Religions; for encouraging me to present at conferences;
and, most of all, for being sincere and patient throughout my growth as a scholar. I would also
like to thank Dr. Mark Metzler for agreeing to read my thesis; for inspiring me to pursue the field
of History; and for providing me with much needed reassurance in the latter stages of this project.
I also would like to thank the remarkable professors that I have had the privilege of
working with over the years. Thank you to Dr. Kirsten Cather, whose exuberance and charming
character made my years at UT so much more memorable. Thank you to Dr. Patricia Maclachlan,
whose dedication and leadership in all her pursuits motivate me to work harder as well. Thank
you to Dr. Daniel Aldrich for first getting me interested in Asian Studies. And thank you to Prof.
Saeko Yatsuka-J ensen who was always able to draw out my best qualities.
This project would also not have been possible without the extensive research I
conducted during the summer of 2009. I amthankful to the Institute for Vietnamese Culture &
Education and to all of the instructors at Can Tho University for giving me the opportunity to
teach in Vietnam. I amalso indebted to the priests and adepts at the Caodai Holy See in Tay Ninh.
This thesis is a product of their immeasurable kindness and willingness to help me learn about a
religion that I now deeply care for. Indeed, I dedicate this work to all of the Caodaists that I have
met and I hope I will be able to continue this collaboration in the future. However, I reserve my
warmest reflections for the family that I stayed with during this trip. I would like express my
deepest appreciation to my Dng and D t, as well as to my adorable twin cousins, B Kh and
B Heo. They truly are the most beautiful and loving family I have ever encountered and
represent everything that I admire about Vietnam.
Finally, I would like to convey my appreciation to friends and family. Thank you to Hye
Eun Choi and Shirley Field. I hold you both in the highest esteemand will always cherish the
bonds we forged during our graduate career. For my siblings, I would like to express my
admiration for your personal qualities. To Qweezy, I amalways in awe of your unyielding
ambition and strong conviction. To Bear, you are an endearing sister with a congenial persona; I
always strive to be a better person whenever I amaround you. To Hammy, I adore your sharp
tongue and bold character; please continue to show everyone what it means to really experience
life. Lastly, I owe the greatest debt to my parents, who have been the most essential presence in
my life. To my Mother, you have the kindest, most caring soul. I feel your love every time I bite
into your sup duoi bo. To my Father, I have nothing but the utmost respect for your dedication to
your family and to your country. While we may always disagree on topics about Vietnam, I
know that our lively debates are driven by the same passion and devotion to a place we both love.
I amperpetually grateful to have been inspired by such great company throughout my life.
v

Caodai Spiritism:
Hybrid Identities, Global Communities
by

Duc Hong Huynh, M.A.
The University of Texas at Austin, 2010
SUPERVISOR: Nancy K. Stalker


The Caodai religion of Vietnamhas often been labeled as a peasant-driven, politico-
religious sect due to its anti-colonial activities during the first half of the 1940s. This paper
conducts an historical analysis of Caodaisms formative years (1926-1941) to show that the
religion was in fact primarily managed by Cochinchinese (South Vietnamese) elites who
appropriated many of the governance and economic models introduced by the French colonial
government. Combining their knowledge of Western bureaucratic systems with Asian religious
traditions into a formof hybridity that exhibited both cultures, these elites founded the religion of
Caodaism. The paper uses the concept of hybridity to look at how other aspects embody the
negotiation and reappropriation of ideas by Caodaists. These include the concept of salvation, the
religions spirit pantheon, Caodaisms most famous Western convert (Gabriel Gobron), and the
Caodai community in Tay Ninh province. I argue that these hybrid forms allowed Caodaists to
overcome a sense of cultural inferiority by establishing cultural parity with the West.

Furthermore, I look at the recent developments within Caodaist communities that have
formed in the wake of the 1975 Vietnamese Diaspora. I first examine the influence of restrictive
state policies on Caodaists in the homeland and compare it with the experiences of diasporic
Vietnamese in rebuilding their religion outside of Vietnam. I find that these diasporic
communities are caught between two poles in their attempts to revive the religion. Some
overseas Caodaists feel that it is necessary to preserve the tradition by supporting mainland
Caodaismfromthe outside. Others find it more suitable to begin reinventing the religion to cater
to diasporic needs and challenges. This tension, I argue, also constitutes a type of hybridity in
which individuals must delegate between these two approaches to decide the future of their
religion.
vi

Table of Contents


List of Illustrations ........................................................................................................ vii
Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 1
Part I: Conflicted Identities ............................................................................................ 13
Part II: Global Identities ................................................................................................ 33
Part III: Dual Identities .................................................................................................. 54
Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 77
Bibliography ................................................................................................................. 79
Vita ............................................................................................................................... 86
vii

List of Illustrations

Illustration 1: Corbeille-a-bec ........................................................................................ 27
Illustration 2: Gabriel Gobron ........................................................................................ 51

1

INTRODUCTION

In his book, Viet-Nam Witness 1953-66, the famous journalist and Vietnam social
commentator Bernard Fall predicted that, with its military operations forcibly ended in
1955, the Cao Dai religion was destined to disappear from any significant role in
Vietnams future.
1
Fall was convinced that Caodaism would become an historical
footnote; one in which future generations will fondly remember as the time when people
naively envisioned a global brotherhood while engaging in practices of spirit worship.
Fall, however, made no attempt to discredit what Caodaism was able to accomplish in the
short period between its origins and the time in which he began writing his book. The
religion was officially founded in 1926, when a group of sance practitioners encountered
the Supreme Deity, known as the Cao Dai.
2
Caodaism became famous for its unique
doctrine which incorporated elements from Vietnams tam-giao tradition (Three
Devotions: Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism). Adherents stressed the principle of
universal love and tolerance, believing that some form of Cao Dais message was present
in all religions and that the Cao Dai spirit was interspersed throughout all living beings.
3

Utilizing this concept, Caodaists sought to draw connections with the worlds faiths in
order to seek a harmonious brotherhood. What started as an eclectic religion soon

1
Bernard Fall, Viet-Nam Witness 1953-66 (New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1966), 32.

2
Cao Dai literally translates to High Palace. Caodaists believed using the word God created religious
conflict. The spirits full title was Cao Dai Tien Ong Dai Bo Tat Ma Ha Tat (High palace, immortal, his
honor, the eldest Boddhisattva, the venerable saint).

3
Tan Khoa Ho, The Outline of Caodaism, trans. Pham Tai Doan (San Jose: Dien Tho Phat Mau San Jose,
2002), 17.
2

became Vietnams fastest growing movement, capturing the imagination of over a
million adherents by 1930 and close to three million by 1945.
4
More prominent, however,
was the religions involvement in the anti-French/colonial movement with Japanese
forces during the 1940s. Scholars have since used this description, which labels the
religion as a politico-religious sect, to broadly understand Caodaism.
This paper argues that, rather than positioning Caodaism on an opposite politico-
ideological front as the colonial government, the religion fashioned a hybrid identity that
appealed to Cochinchinese concerns of mat nuoc, which generally implied a loss of
cultural and ethnic identity. An historical analysis of the religions formative years in
Cochinchina (1926-1941) as well as recent developments in Vietnamese diasporic
communities during the past decade will show how this idea of hybrid identity is used by
Caodaists to situate themselves within a global context. The reason for Caodaisms initial
success was due to a confluence of existing religious traditions (Taoist spiritism,
Buddhist concepts of salvation and reincarnation) and Western bureaucratic and
economic models of governance. These components were then reappropriated into a
form that allowed Caodaists to portray their religion as a legitimate, cosmopolitan
institution that met the standards of other modern, Western religions and paid heed to
Vietnamese cultural practices. This approach outstrips the need to locate Caodaisms
historical role on socio-political shifts within Vietnam and instead focuses on how the
notion of cultural hybridity informed factors such as the exterior form of the religion,

4
Thai Chanh Tran, Lich-Su Cao-Dai Dai-Dao Tam-Ky Pho-Do [History of Cao-Dai the Great-Way of the
Third-Amnesty], (Saigon: Hoa-Chanh, 1967), 37.

3

methods of recruiting adherents, construction of religious institutions, and attention from
media outlets. Via these channels, one can see how Caodaism exists within a network of
global, intellectual flows and can gauge the impact of Caodaism within a cultural
narrative of Vietnamese modern history.

On Understanding Cao Dai in Vietnam
Vietnamese mass movements during the emergence of Caodaism exhibited a
tendency to blur designations of region, ethnicity, class, and religion, as well as lack
adherence to any definitive political ideology. Scholars were amazed by the sheer
fluidity with which individuals moved between these groups and the ability for groups to
collaborate despite inherent conflicts of interest.
5
Examples of this fluidity include the
immersion of disparate groups into the Viet Minh and, with respect to Caodaism, the
religions collaboration with French forces in 1946 despite its previous alliance with
Japanese forces to oust the French.
6
These examples broadly underscore the futility of
assigning categorical lenses with which to identify the groups like the Caodaists. Instead,
it would be more fruitful to investigate the individuals that make-up these movements as
well as the intellectual and social environment in which they were situated. One can then
observe how these individuals translated the ideas that were available to them into the
beginnings of a more significant form, be it a socio-political movement or, in this case, a

5
Patricia Pelley, Postcolonial Vietnam (Durham: Duke University Press, 2002), 3.

6
The Viet Minh was the primary Vietnamese revolution group before and during the French-Indochina
War. The group was originally an outgrowth of Ho Chi Minhs (1890-1969) Indochinese Communist Party,
but took on its own identity on May 19, 1941. During the Japanese Occupation Period (1941-1945) the
Viet Minh often clashed with Japanese forces, whom the Caodaists were allied with.
4

religious institution. One should also note the ambitions that motivate them, how these
ambitions shift over time, and how one is able to determine the efficiency and
effectiveness to which these groups operated.
This paper makes a similar consideration. When discussing the contributions of
Vietnamese movements in the colonial period, it is more important to analyze the ideas
that inspire these groups than to than to draw teleological connections to their eventual
outcomes. The latter process often leads scholars to instinctively point out the
weaknesses of said groups, instead of holistically taking into account the ideological
currents that make them relevant to study. By focusing on the Western intellectual
currents that permeated groups like the Caodaists (e.g. Social Darwinism, the
entrepreneurial ethic), there is less need to connect Caodaisms political failure in
forming a sustainable religious institution with an ideological inability to modernize its
cultural identity. Indeed, this paper argues that Caodai practitioners were well attuned to
the demands of forming a modern institution but that their religion was overwhelmed by
historical events that were largely out of their control (including their alliance with
Japanese forces in 1945 and Communist suppression of the religion in 1975). However,
Caodais overall messages of cultural parity and universal tolerance still function to
attract followers today, as will be demonstrated through the religions revival in diaporic
communities. The overarching theme throughout this paper is that while caodaism was
similar to other mass movements in terms of resistance and opposition, it was exceptional
in the strategies employed by early members in constructing a new Vietnamese cultural
identity.
5

Caodaisms standing as a relatively young faith also provides a unique
opportunity to investigate the ways in which a religion becomes meaningful and sacred.
This paper emphasizes the role of its practitioners in developing Caodaism into an
institutional religion, complete with its own religious texts, hierarchy, and primary sacred
structure (the Holy See Temple). This paper will offer insights to how its leaders
imagined Caodaism as the broker of a global religious community by discussing the
religions activities in religious conferences and its exposure in foreign media. While
numerous works have attributed the popularity of Caodaism to a variety of factors, the
literature focusing on Caodai internal dynamics is disconcertingly scarce.
There have been three categories of scholarship on Caodaism to date. The first
category of works on Cao Dai stress the intersection between religious and political
currents and the impact it had on the religions active role in anti-colonialism. Scholars,
such as Bernard Fall and Frances Hill, attempt to understand religious movements within
Vietnam as based on the tendency for certain religious ideology to inspire group-oriented
revolt.
7
Bernard Fall compares Cao Dai with other religious movements, such as the
Hoa-Hao, and points to the revelatory nature of these religions as a source of authority.
8

Religious groups such as the Cao Dai and the Hoa-Hao believed they were acting under
the conviction of destiny that was bestowed upon them from sources of divine power.

7
Bernard B. Fall, The Political-Religious Sects of Viet-Nam, Pacific Affairs 28.3 (1955): 235-253;
Frances R. Hill, Millenarian Machines, Comparative Studies in Society and History 13.3 (1971): 325-350.

8
The Hoa-Hao was a politico-religious sect officially founded in 1939 by Huynh Phu So. The Hoa-Hao
advocated a village-centered Buddhism or Buddhism for the masses. While the group placed great
emphasis on the social concerns of Vietnamese peasants, the Hoa-Hao encouraged the active participation
of peasants rather than relying on political reforms from the government. The group formed an alliance
with the Caodaists after the March 9, 1945 French coup, in order to better protect themselves from Viet
Minh forces.
6

For the Hoa-Hao, this came in the form of their prophetic leader, Huynh Phu So, who
foretold the end of French rule and the complete revival of Buddhism. Caodaists, on the
other hand, relied on messages from the Supreme Deity who similarly predicted the end
of French colonialism and the reinstatement of Prince Cuong De, the exiled blood relative
of the last Vietnamese emperor before French colonization.
9
Frances Hill points to Cao
Dais millenarian promise of utopian society as an impetus towards radical
transformation of society. He argues that the Caodaist belief in the three epochs, or
amnesties, of creation, destruction, and revival (with Caodaists leading the world in the
final amnesty), allowed the religion to appeal to an audience of Vietnamese citizens who
were convinced French colonization represented the destructive second phase.
10
In other
words, adherents were drawn to Caodaism primarily because they believed the religion
sought to bring an end to the French colonial government and usher in a new era of
utopia.
Related to this first category are scholars who look at the political contexts that
lead to revolutionary sentiment. Authors, such as William Duiker and My-Van Tran,
argue that there were no special characteristics within Caodaism that attracted followers,
but instead the political environment of colonial Vietnam encouraged citizens to gravitate

9
Dean Meyers and My-Van Tran, The Crisis of the Eighth Lunar Month: The Cao Dai,
Prince Cuong De and the Japanese in 1937-1939, IJAPS 2 (May 2006): 1-39.

10
Frances R. Hill, Millenarian Machines in South Vietnam," Comparative Studies in Society and History
13.3 (July 1971): 325-350.

7

towards mass groups.
11
William Duiker notes the colonial governments systematic
destruction of traditional modes of relationship during the early 1900s. Policies such as
the elimination of village forms of governance, the growth of South Vietnamese big-
landholders, and the establishment of a labor and commerce-driven market, served to
atomize the Vietnamese, who were traditionally embedded within communal and patron-
client relationships.
12
Thus, the communal structure of religions like Caodaism offered a
return to these social networks. My-Van Tran looks at the benefits offered by the
Japanese occupation of Vietnam (1941-1945) as a means of explaining widespread
revolutionary sentiment. She argues that the French colonial government effectively
removed the Vietnamese people from deciding their destiny as a nation. Adherents
flocked to Caodaists due to their close relationship with Japan, which served as a model
Asian nation that would liberate Vietnam from colonialism. Above all, the Japanese
alternative gave the Vietnamese people the power to construct their own future prospects.
Tran then focuses on the various collaborations between Cao Dai militant forces and the
Japanese Kempeitai in the March 1945 coup against the French.
13

The second category of perspectives on Caodaism focuses on socio-cultural
formations of the peasant identity. Authors such as James Scott and Samuel Popkin
argued that Vietnamese peasants were embedded in social identity systems that made

11
William Duiker, The Rise of Nationalism in Vietnam (Ithaca: Cornell University Press); Tran My-Van,
Japan and Vietnams Caodaists: A Wartime Relationship (1939-45), Journal of Southeast Asian Studies
27.1 (1996): 179-193.

12
William Duiker, Vietnam: Revolution in Transition, (Boulder: Westview Press, 1995).

13
Tran, Japan and Vietnams Caodaists, 182.
8

them susceptible to groups espousing the cultural-essentialism of Vietnam.
14
Scott argues
that peasants believed themselves to be the flag-bearers of Vietnamese culture. Having
been ignored by colonial policies of modernization, they inhabited a unique position as
Vietnams repository of traditional, agrarian life. Thus, attacks on this peasant mode of
life was seen in their eyes as genocide against Vietnam as a national subject. This
genuine fear of extinction and doubts about their future survival formed the rationale for
peasants who looked to religion to defend their cultural identity.
15
Adopting a slightly
different approach, Samuel Popkin looks at the peasants stronger adherence to
Confucian hierarchical orders which generated social stability and was the normative,
moral fiber that sustained their harsh livelihoods. However, the gradual deterioration of
this Confucian order led more peasants towards the path of religious groups that
embodied Confucian ideology.
16
Both Scott and Popkin argue that peasants tend to
fortify their patron-client bonds through realms that offered protection from the turmoil
of capitalist relationships. In other words, traditional relationships that emphasized caring
proprietors and dutiful clients were destabilized by the new market relationships
developed in urban areas. Caodaism was able to fill this void by enacting a program of
social justice funded by wealthy benefactors. The religion functioned as a means of
going back to the traditional social relationships that peasants felt were threatened by the
French modernization strategy.

14
James Scott, The Moral Economy of the Peasant: Rebellion and Subsistence in Southeast Asia, (New
Haven: Yale University Press, 1976); Samuel Popkin, The Rational Peasant: The Political Economy of
Rural Society in Vietnam, (Berkeley : University of California Press, 1979).

15
Scott, The Moral Economy of the Peasant, 4.

16
Popkin, The Rational Peasant, 16.
9

Lastly, some scholars have adopted a cultural essentialist approach when
considering the appeal of Caodaism. Victor Oliver argues that the Vietnamese were
inherently susceptible to Caodaism due to ethnic characteristics steeped in the tam-giao
tradition.
17
Oliver believed that the Vietnamese publicly conducted themselves according
to Confucian prescriptions of social order, held religious beliefs that were Buddhist in
nature, and pragmatically approached situations with a Taoist sensibility.
18
Oliver goes
on to argue that Caodaisms embrace of seemingly opposing ideologies made cultural
sense to the Vietnamese people. Alexander Woodside looks broadly at South
Vietnamese sectarian movements and their ability to harness traditional Vietnamese
cultural figures (e.g. Trung sisters, Quan Am, Quan Cong, and other folk heroes that
fought against Chinese oppression) or local spirits that protected villages and landmarks.
Woodside argues that these figures epitomized Vietnamese virtues of struggle and
endurance. Since many of these figures made their way into Caodaisms pantheon of
spirits and deities, Caodaists were seen as embodying the same Vietnamese virtues.
19

This project represents a significant departure from the preceding authors since it
argues that Caodaism does not exist solely in ideological opposition to the colonial qua
Western imposition of modernization. Furthermore, this paper ventures beyond the
confines of Caodaism being a purely Vietnam religion. Indeed, a Caodaist perspective
would consider the religion as one that can only be successfully understood by its

17
Victor Oliver, Caodai Spiritism: A Study of Religion in Vietnamese Society, (Leiden: Brill, 1976).

18
Oliver, Caodai Spiritism, 25.

19
Woodside, Alexander, "Ideology and Integration in Post-Colonial Vietnamese Nationalism," Pacific
Affairs 44.4 (Winter 1971-1972): 487-510.
10

amalgamation of Western and Asian modes of religious practice into a form that inspires
global, collaborative outreach.
20
The narrative of Caodaism is less about the durability of
a monolithic peasantculture and is instead about its adaptability. This approach
incorporates Caodaism into a context of global, intellectual, technological, and cultural
flows precisely because most histories on Vietnamese religion fail to address this fluidity.
It is important to note that this religion is found predominantly in the southern
part of Vietnam (referred to as Cochinchina during the French colonial period and the
Republic of Vietnam or simply South Vietnam during the period between 1954 and 1975).
It is also of no coincidence that the diasporic communities now reviving the religion are
individuals comprised of primarily South Vietnamese descent. The paper will also solely
be referring to the Tay Ninh branch of Caodaism that commands more than half of all
Caodaists and which claims the Holy See temple in Tay Ninh province.
21
Even so, the
key differences among other branches arise from superficial opinions on how the religion
performs its mission, rather than any significant dispute or prejudice against the mission
itself.
22
Thus, the main arguments presented in this paper are broadly applicable to

20
Chnh Cao, Dai Dao va dong tu phap [The Great Way and religious practice] (Saigon VN: 1929).

21
Nghiem Van Dang, ed. Buoc dau tim hieu Dao Cao Dai [Preliminary study of Caodaism] (Hanoi VN:
The Institute of Religious Studies, Social Sciences Publishing House, 1995), 25.

22
Caodaist sects include: the Chieu Minh Tam Thanh sect (the official esoteric Caodai congregation guided
by Ngo Minh Chieu after his departure from the Tay Ninh sect), the Cau Kho sect (the sect which broke
away from Tay Ninh in 1931 after objections to Tay Ninh publications), the Minh Chon Ly sect (the
founder, Nguyen Can Ca, left the Tay Ninh sect in 1931 believing he received sance orders to start his
own sect in Rach Gia), the Nu Chung Hoa sect (a womens group founded in 1932 to reunite all of the
Caodaist sects; their supreme deity was Le Son Thanh Mau), the Ban Chinh Dao sect (started in 1934 by
three former juridical cardinals from Tay Ninh out of personal reasons, the branch became the second
largest sect next to the Tay Ninh sect), the Caodai Military Forces (since the doctrine of Caodai strictly
prohibits any form of violent action, the Caodaists were able to create a loophole by situating this sect
outside from the main sect; this group was led by Tran Quang Vinh, a Caodai bishop and head of the
11

Caodaism, even if the historical analysis is restricted to the Tay Ninh branch. This work
serves as a glimpse into the workings of a highly successful religion during the
Vietnamese colonial period, which met its decline and subsequent revival in the
contemporary post-1975 period. Indeed, the narrative is primarily one in which a group
of individuals responded to environments of cultural displacement by incorporating
available features from successful models around them.
Chapter 1 describes the colonial environment in which Cochinchina was witness
to a dramatic socio-political transformation that gave rise to a new Cochinchinese class of
elites. This transformation was the result of both the French tax and resource allocation
policies that de-personalized patron-client relationships and the elimination of the
Confucian moral system. The chapter discusses how the Caodai founders were the first
generation of Vietnamese who utilized French colonial pathways to develop careers in
administrative offices and private enterprises. Using the knowledge they gained from
working in these environments the founders set standards for how religious groups should
operate in Vietnam. For instance, this paper argues that Caodaisms core motivation, its
missionary impulse, was reappropriated from modern capitalist principles of continuing
growth.
Chapter 2 delves into the early years of Caodaism, in which the religion sought to
expand its influence outside of Vietnam. The chapter focuses on the core religious tenets
that allowed Caodaists to assert its cultural parity with Western religions. By invoking

Phnom Penh congregation from 1941-1956). For more information about the Caodai sects, consult Oliver,
Victor L. Caodai Spiritism: A Study of Religion in Vietnamese Society. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1976.

12

several worldly cultural figures and incorporating them into Caodaisms pantheon of
religious spirits, the religion created an avenue through which they could reach out to
those outside of Vietnam. Furthermore, it established legitimacy for Vietnamese culture,
since according to Caodaists Vietnamese cultural figures were on par with those from
other nations. Finally, Chapter 2 explores the religions attempt to establish themselves
among other religions by utilizing a French representative, Gabriel Gobron, who
exhibited the very ideal of cultural hybridization.
Chapter 3 examines the community created by Caodaists in the city of Tay Ninh
as well as the waning moments of Caodaisms history. It draws on Emile Durkheims
conception of two communal structures (mechanical versus organic solidarity) to observe
how Caodaists created appeal by routinizing the Tay Ninh society into shared activities,
while adopting a Western-inspired hierarchy that emphasized specialized roles for
different sectors of society. The chapter ends with a discussion on how contemporary,
diasporic communities are now reshaping the identity of Caodaism from outside of the
religions metropole. Divorced from the spiritual center of Caodiasm, these communities
are finding ways to sustain the religion by using their diasporic identities to create
international moral pressure on the Vietnamese governments treatment of Caodaism.





13

PART I: CONFLICTED IDENTITIES

Caodaisms founders were part of a new gentry class at the crossroads of
competing cultures. They were just as likely to have been influenced by Confucian ideas
of meritocracy and filial piety as they were by intellectual currents of Social Darwinism
and Marxism. Rather than being forced into one corner or the other, Caodaist leaders
recognized the need to negotiate between these extremes in order to appeal to the widest
cross-section of society. As will be show in this chapter, the primary reason Caodaism
enjoyed such rapid early success was due to this hybrid identity. The religion molded its
mission by integrating Vietnamese sociological concerns with an entrepreneurial attitude
in circulating the religion. Furthermore, the necessity of attracting as many followers as
possible was a relatively novel concept in Vietnam. As a result of colonial rice allocation
policies, the entrepreneurial ethic became a relevant and necessary approach in order to
survive. Lastly, as Caodai members began to grasp the implications of their unique
position (as saviors of Vietnamese culture) in Cochinchinese society, Caodaisms robust
sense of exotericism becomes its foundational principle.

Learning from the Colonizers
The motivation for Frances colonial project in Indochina has always been
complex, depending on which explanations are adopted. William Duiker had argued that
the periodic executions of French missionaries in Vietnam aroused a public outcry" in
France, prompting military and commercial circles to goad the French government into
14

adopting a more active policy toward Vietnam.
23
Other scholars have noted that France
was trapped within a post-Napoleon malaise in which the nation was still reeling from its
decline in political legitimacy. Thus, the Indochina colonial mission was adopted to
boost Frances prestige among its European peers. Finally, scholars such as Jon Roper
have commented on a more idealistic incentive. The French, Roper argued, were
committed to a certain idea of France, one that was convinced their nation had
reached its republican ideal through revolutionary struggle and that this republican
ideal also legitimized national adventures overseas to carry abroad the message of their
domestic revolutionary triumphs.
24

Whatever may have been the initial motivation, from the moment in which
Admiral Regault de Genouilly gained control of Da Nang port in 1858, there was little
doubt as to French intentions towards Vietnam. After successive campaigns led by
Captain Francis Garnier in 1867, 1873, and 1882, France established within present-day
Vietnam the two protectorates of Tonkin and Annam (the northern and central thirds of
Vietnam, respectively), and the direct colony of Cochinchina (the southern third of
Vietnam).
25
These territories, along with lands accumulated in Cambodia and Laos,
formed the aggregate colony of Indochina which served two purposes for the French. The
primary objective was to convert Indochina into a colonial enterprise based on rubber,

23
Duiker, The Rise of Nationalism in Vietnam, 27.

24
Phil Melling and Jon Roper, ed. America, France, and Vietnam: Cultural History and Ideas of Conflict,
(Brookfield Vt.: Gower Publishing Co., 1991), 17-19.

25
In 1867 French units under Governor Benoit de la Grandiere seized the remainder of Southern Vietnam
and formed the French colony of Cochinchina. In August 1883, due to French military pressure the Hue
court signed a treaty establishing a French protectorate over the remainder of the country; Duiker, The Rise
of Nationalism in Vietnam, 28.
15

rice, coffee, and hemp production. Despite economic role primacy, there was another
more highly publicized reason was used to justify (and perhaps disguise) their activities.
The French state made efforts to present the colonial operation as being part of Frances
moral duty to civilize the remote peoples of Southeast Asia, forming the basis for their
mission civilisatrice.
26

To better gauge the effects of these changes from a Vietnamese perspective, one
should first consider the pre-colonial order of Vietnamese society, which mainly adhered
to a China-modeled Confucian political system, which was established around the
Imperial Court in Hue (a city in the Annam protectorate). The presence of this system
was made even more acute in the period immediately before French colonization. King
Gia Long (1762-1820), who was the founder of the Nguyen Dynasty in 1802, was an avid
promoter of Confucian values and initiated an aggressive campaign of restricting Western
influence. This was carried out by restricting the movement of Catholic priests
throughout Vietnam and empowering an elite gentry class based around the study of
Classical Confucian texts.
27
Under this system, Vietnamese mandarins were the most
prominent members of society, holding multiple roles as administrators, teachers, tax
collectors, and arbitrators.
28
This campaign was continued by Gia Longs descendents

26
Duiker, Revolution in Transition, 31.

27
Duiker, Revolution in Transition, 26.

28
Vietnam was divided into four social classes: the Confucian scholars (si), peasants (nong), craftsmen
(cong), and traders (thuong); Phan Huy Le, Research on Vietnam: Assessment and Perspectives, in
Vietnam: Borderless Histories ed. Nhung Tuyet Tran and Anthony Reid (Madison: University of
Wisconsin Press, 2006), 31.
16

until the reign of King Tu Duc (1829-1883), which marked the last Imperial
administration before French colonization.
For the French, fulfillment of their mission entailed the breakdown of any and all
social orders deemed to epitomize Asian antiquity, such as the civil service exams and
Vietnamese mandarinate. Colonial administrators believed that only from these ruins
would they be able to usher in their models of modern economy and governance. The
Indochinese economy was coordinated so that raw resources and materials would be
brought down from Tonkin and Annam into Cochinchina, where they would be
manufactured, sold, and shipped abroad. This required, of course, a large laborer class in
Cochinchina who derived income from currency rather than from the cultivation of rice
and other sustenance crops. These efforts were supervised by a military government
headed by an acting Governor-General of Indochina. Several administrative units were
also created, mostly within Cochinchina, to manage the colonys day-to-day operations.
Colonial officials would have had to employ a large number of Cochinchinese citizens to
fill in these administrative posts, since the number of posts greatly exceeded a French
population already constrained by security details.
29

Since Cochinchina was designated an immediate colony of France, political
decisions came directly from French military or administrative officials. Whereas the
mandarin-operated political system was completely abolished in Cochinchina, this system
was hardly touched by the French in Tonkin and Annam until the 1900s.
30
The departure

29
David G. Marr, Vietnamese Tradition on Trial, 1920-1945, (Berkeley: University of California Press,
1981).

30
David Marr, Vietnamese Anticolonialism, (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1971), 77.
17

of the civil service exams and the dearth of Confucian instructors in Cochinchina forced
Southern elites to look to new economic relationships with their foreign overlords,
usually in land development, the colonial civil service, or urban commerce.
31
This in
turn, exposed a generation of Cochinchinese youths to a novel set of ambitions one that
extolled dreams of social mobility through wealth, without study or moral guidance. To
sculpt these youths into future administrative officials, colonial bureaucrats offered
incentives, such as schooling in French lycees, to those willing to become naturalized
French citizens or at least take up French as their secondary language.
32

In opposition to this movement to become like the French, the older generation
of Vietnamese Confucian scholars became increasingly concerned over what they
perceived to be an erosion of Vietnamese morality. They argued that the heavy presence
of French entrepreneurial and bureaucratic ideals led to mat nuoc (literally loss of seas).
For these scholars, the lack of a Confucian institution to instill qualities such as hard-
work, filial piety, and moderation, ensured that Cochinchinese society would become
more accustomed to the colonial business model that stressed continuous financial profit
and a class system based on personal wealth. The inability of these scholars to reconcile
with modern institutions (focused on the development of the individual) led many to seek
the construction of a new Vietnamese identity around non Sino-centric guidance
resulting in a period denoted by the migration of intellectuals into foreign lands (i.e. Phan
Boi Chau and Phan Chu Trinh into Hong Kong and Japan; Ho Chi Minh into Russia,

31
Marr, Vietnamese Anticolonialism, 78.

32
Lycees were French secondary schools that usually led to vocational or baccalaureate degrees.
18

China, and Europe).
33
This period was also characterized by the introduction of Western
theories of social and political development. As a result of the flow of information and
literature that accompanied colonization, Vietnamese scholars were introduced to texts
from the Wests most influential thinkers, including Enlightenment figures such as Jean-
Jaques Rousseau and Montesquieu, and even Americans such as George Washington and
Thomas Edison.
34

However, no individual had as profound an effect on Cochinchinese intellectual
discourses as English theorist Herbert Spencer (1820-1903).
35
Indeed, one cannot
understate how Spencers theory of Social Darwinism became the most pervasive and
convincing concept during this period. It is important to note, however, that the
particular Darwinian outlook appropriated by the Cochinchinese, came to Vietnam via
translations by Chinese scholars Liang Qichao (1873-1929) and Kang Youwei (1858-
1927), both of whom depicted Social Darwinism as revolving around nations rather than
society.
36
Furthermore, Vietnamese intellectuals adopted an emphatically fatalist
interpretation. Most adaptations of Spencers theory interpreted it as an opportunity for

33
Phan Boi Chau (1867-1940) had extensive contacts with Japanese bureaucrats and led the Dong Du Go
East Movement which encouraged Vietnamese students to travel to Japan to study; Phan Chu Trinh (1872-
1926) opened the Dong Khia School in Hanoi which taught modern theories in science, politics, and
geography based on school systems in Japan; Ho Chi Minh (1890-1969) led the Indochinese Communist
Party and later the Viet Minh during Vietnams anti-colonial movement. Ho Chi Minh would later become
the first President of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.

34
Mark Philip Bradley, Imagining Vietnam and America: The Making of Postcolonial Vietnam, 1919-1950
(Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2000), 12

35
Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) was an British political and sociological theorist, who was most famous for
his interpretation of Charles Darwins evolutionary theories. Spencer adapted the evolutionary theory to
produce a holistic theory that incorporated all living things, structures, and concepts, into a struggle for
survival. Spencer was also famous for coining the survival of the fittest concept.
36
Philip Taylor, Fragments of the Present: Searching for Modernity in Vietnam's South (Honolulu:
University of Hawaii Press, 2001), 12.
19

lesser developed nations to follow in the footsteps of the West and receive the fruits of
modernization. Vietnamese scholars, on the other hand believed that the model depicted a
brutal competition among nations, with the weak and small (nhuoc tieu) Vietnam
surely to be consumed by others.
37
At the center of this belief was the notion that it was
not just a matter of military or economic strength that made other nations stronger.
Instead, there was something fundamentally and culturally wrong with the Vietnamese
that allowed them to sink so far behind other nations that the Vietnamese identity
needed reform.

Instilling the Entrepreneurial Ethic
Despite concerns over moral and cultural shortcomings, Vietnamese living in the
southern region were wracked with a more pressing and deeply felt transformation in the
way they structured economic relationships. Prior to French colonization, another
deeply-rooted feature of pre-colonial Vietnam was the prominence of an agrarian culture,
one closely affiliated with the rice paddy. Although rice was used as a bartering item, it
was rarely regarded as a commodity. Rice held a sociological significance in that it
pervaded daily life through work and religion and was utilized within tax and penal
systems (both systems almost always used rice), village governance (via rice distribution
based on family status), and communal ethos (as a communal crop to which everyone
was responsible for its upkeep).
38
This aspect of pre-colonial Vietnam would become

37
Hue-Tam Ho Tai, Radicalism and the Origins of the Vietnamese Revolution, (Cambridge: Harvard
University Press, 1992), 2.

38
Popkin, The Rational Peasant, 15.
20

drastically transformed by colonial techniques of resource allocation and policies
designed to weaken village life.
At the top of the colonial governments economic objectives was the conversion
of Cochinchina into a trade market. To incorporate the Cochinchinese into a broad
spectrum of market society, French policies moved Vietnam towards a tax system based
on currency. Under the previous system, taxes were paid primarily in rice. Once the
French abolished payments through rice, villagers experienced a 500% increase in the
amount of piaster currency that they were then forced to pay.
39
This produced the desired
effect in that many Vietnamese peasants were forced to sell off their farms and work as
tenants and laborers many for the rest of their lives. The introduction of a legal system
to deal with debtors allowed French banks, such as the Credit Agricole, to seize
thousands of peasant plots and resell them to a new burgeoning class of Vietnamese large
landowners.
40
Nonetheless, among the changes imposed upon Vietnam, none were as
influential as the shift of rice from a subsistence crop to that of a commercial crop. The
group most responsible for this shift was the Colonial Council, a collective body of
French (and even a few Vietnamese) planters, land-owners, merchants, and industrialists.
Within Cochinchina, the Colonial Council was the indomitable force behind virtually all
of the decisions made on tax rates, rice quotas, distribution routes, land development,
dispersion of bank loans, and public works projects.
41
Among the Councils most notable

39
Popkin, The Rational Peasant, 147.

40
Sugata Bose Starvation amidst Plenty: The Making of Famine in Bengal, Honan,
Tonkin, 1942-45" Modern Asian Studies 24.4 (October 1990)

41
Duiker, Vietnam Revolution in Transition, 33.
21

functions was determining the market price of rice.
42
While this role was bestowed to the
Council in order to regulate inflation, it was also a means to ensure that rice would be
produced on levels greatly surpassing the basic needs of the populace.
The need to continually produce more than what was necessary represented one of
the core elements of modern capitalism. Indeed, the emergence of needs, as well as the
increasing specialization of society to meet these needs, formed capitalisms two most
important dynamics. Most importantly, at least in terms of this paper, the need to
produce enough rice in order to pay taxes and promote social mobility contributed
towards the formation of the entrepreneurial ethic. Of course, this ethic was accompanied
by a displacement from Confucian ideas on excess and moderation as well as a change in
traditional patron-client relationships. With the shift towards a cash economy and an ethic
that encouraged free-reign market practices, the traditional, personal exchanges between
patrons and clients (via bartering), were replaced by impersonal exchanges of rice
commodities for cash. By severing the personal relationships embodied in the previous
system, it became more feasible to envision society in an egalitarian framework. The
notion that individuals were equal in their potential, with fitness assessed in terms of
ones capacity to respond to the needs and demands of society, captivated a new
generation of Vietnamese individuals in the 1920s.
This new generations fluency in the French language and attention to individual
mobility allowed them to make their way into various administrative positions in the
colonial government. Endowed with a sense of mission and entrepreneurial ambition to

42
Bradley, Imagining Vietnam & America, 35.
22

gather as many followers as possible, they realized that ideology, no matter how moral or
embedded within Confucian or Western ethics, would be useless without attracting these
followers. In other words, they could no longer rely on past assumptions that the moral
or right decision would lead to desirable results. As their experience of being caught
between two cultural poles has shown them, ethics were humanly constructed and thus
idiosyncratic. Adopting one position over another was irrelevant, since all that mattered
was a market logic that privileged quantity. If they were destined to be the ones effecting
major sociological reform in Vietnam, they would need to be able to address societys
concerns better than both their predecessors and their peers. It is with this understanding
that Cao Dais founders were able to outline the way in which Caodaism operated.

Visions of the Future: Revelation and Mission
According to Caodaist mythology, the first human to be able to directly
communicate with Cao Dai was Ngo Minh Chieu (1878-1932), a Vietnamese district
governor in Phu Quoc.
43
While searching for spiritual remedies to heal his sick mother,
Chieu became interested in spirit communication. Throughout the 1910s, he apprenticed
under various religious sects, absorbing the ways that one could foster a connection with
the spirit world. Among the sects he encountered was the Minh Ly group, which
advocated a synthesis of Vietnams three main religious traditions: Taoism, Buddhism,

43
Gabriel Gobron, History and Philosophy of Caodaism , trans. Pham Xuan Thai (San Jose: Anh Sang
Phuong Dong Magazine, 2007), 45.

23

and Confucianism.
44
The Minh Ly sect was also notable for developing innovative
contraptions and procedures for spirit communication, which Chieu would later adopt
into Caodaism. In addition, Chieu also became familiar with Western practices of
spiritism by studying the works of Allan Kardec, Leon Dennis, and Annie Besant, among
others.
45

Having acquired a vast knowledge of Asian and Western theories on geomancy
and spiritism, Chieu decided to set out on his own to conduct spirit rituals. Along with a
group of other practitioners, he began to hold sances with mediums in the Tan An
Province of Cochinchina. It was in February of 1920 that the Cao Dai began to appear as
an anonymous spirit in these sance rituals. One day, while Chieu was reportedly resting
in a hammock, the image of a radiant and lidless left eye appeared before him.
46
Chieu
remembered that, a week ago, he had communicated with a spirit claiming to be the
Supreme Deity and that he had asked the spirit to give him a tangible form in which to
worship under. He believed that this eye belonged to that very same spirit. As the eye
began to radiate even brighter, Chieu frighteningly prayed, "If you want me to use this as
a symbol to worship you, please let it vanish immediately."
47
When the eye eventually
disappeared, Chieus skepticism was revived over whether or not this was truly a spirit

44
Following the Manchu conquest of China in 1644, religious followers loyal to the previous Ming
Dynasty emigrated to Vietnam and established five spiritist groups (Minh Su, Minh Duong, Minh Thiem,
Minh Ly and Minh Tan). These groups preached a syncretism of Vietnams tam-giao and engaged in spirit
communications. The Minh Ly were the original users of the beaked basket (corbeille--bec).

45
Tai, Millenarianism and Peasant Politics and Vietnam, 84.

46
Thai Chanh Tran, Lich-Su Cao-Dai Dai-Dao Tam-Ky Pho-Do [History of Cao-Dai the Great-Way of the
Third-Amnesty] (Saigon: Hoa-Chanh, 1967), 46.

47
Huong Hieu, Dao su xay ban [History of Mediumism] (Tay Ninh VN: 1968).
24

superior to all others. Two days later, however, the exact same scenario was replayed
which finally convinced him of Cao Dais claims.
What made this revelation especially fascinating was its temporal proximity to
revelations of Cao Dai in other regions of Vietnam. In 1925, three Saigon-based, white-
collar workers began experimenting with table-topping (table-tournante) rituals that they
learned from French spiritist books, in which practitioners were seated around a table
with uneven legs to summon spirits. These three participants were employed in various
positions of the French colonial government: Cao Quynh Cu (1887-1929), a clerk in the
Saigon railway office; Cao Hoai Sang, Cus nephew, who worked in the customs
department; and Pham Cong Tac (1893-1958), also a clerk in the customs office.
48
This
group would later become known as the first generation of Pho loan - a term used to refer
to Caodaist recipients of divine truth, or spirit mediums.
49
During their rituals, the spirits
would communicate by using the tables legs to knock their responses, with the number
of knocks correlating to letters of the Vietnamese alphabet. On July of 1925, a spirit
identifying itself as AAA (the first 3 letters of the Vietnamese alphabet with diacritics)
revealed itself to the Pho loan and demanded that the members of the group prostrate
themselves to the spirit for the next 5 months.
50
On December 24, 1925, after several
months of communication with AAA, the spirit finally revealed itself as the Cao Dai,

48
Oliver, Caodai Spiritism, 36.

49
Pho loan originates from a term used to designate those who received the Vietnamese Emperor.
Whenever edicts or directions were given by the Emperor, the Pho loan functioned as His voice to the
lower administrative branches.

50
Gobron, History and Philosophy of Caodaism, 22.
25

assuming the same appearance as it had for Chieu and his followers.
51
The spirit of Cao
Dai then gave instructions on religious affairs and helped the Pho loan interpret previous
sance messages that were unclear for them. At the end of the ritual, Cao Dai gave the
Pho loan a final message, imparting to them the important mission that was to come:
For some time I have used the symbol AAA to lead you into the religious
life. Soon you must help me establish the religion. Have you seen my
humility? Imitate me so that you may generally claim to be religious
men.
52


However, since the members of the Pho loan group were not as extensively trained in
Asian ritual practices primarily utilizing European methods such as the Ouija-board and
the aforementioned table-topping technique the spirit of Cao Dai instructed them to
seek out the guidance of Ngo Minh Chieu.
53

Both groups (Ngo Minh Chieus practitioners and the Pho loan) thus met at
Chieus house on January 27, 1926, to discuss the outlines of the mission entrusted to
them by Cao Dai. Via a series of joint sance rituals, they focused on establishing the
main precepts of Caodaism. These initial meetings were carried out in a variety of
experimental methods. One method used by early Caodai members employed special
ouiji-like tablets inscribed with the alphabet to which spirits would compose messages by
moving a target object over each letter. Another method, called co but, utilized human
mediums that became vessels for Cao Dais spirit. The mediums would then either write

51
Hieu, Dao su xay ban, 28

52
Thai Chanh Tran, Lich-Su Cao-Dai Dai-Dao Tam-Ky Pho-Do [History of Cao-Dai the Great-Way of the
Third-Amnesty] (Saigon: Hoa-Chanh, 1967), 7.

53
Ralph B. Smith, An Introduction to Caodaism, (London: School of Oriental and African Studies,
University of London Press, 1970), 13.
26

down or orally transmit statements emanating from the spirit of Cao Dai. However, due
to concerns over medium legitimacy, the co but method was seldom used. To address
this issue, the level of complexity was increased in subsequent rituals. The procedure
known as huyen co involved a suspended pen within an enclosed eight-sided box that
moved around a circular alphabet diagram to encode the message. Other processes
included hanging a blank sheet of paper inside an envelope above an altar. Adherents
would then find messages scribbled onto the blank sheet after summons were made to a
specific spirit.
54
After multiple experiments using all of these methods, it was determined
that the most authentic messages employed the use of the corbeille-a-bec which then
became the standardized method for most Caodai sects.
The original corbeille-a-bec was actually borrowed by Chieu from a member of
the Minh Ly sects. The instrument consisted of a two-foot long wooden stick with one
end carved into the shape of a phoenix head. On top of the other end, a bamboo-latticed,
dome-like structure was attached for mediums to place their upturned hands inside.
When sances were carried out, a burning joss stick was attached to the top of the carved
head end, with a pen or writing instrument projecting from the bottom of the head. Once
the spirit entered the bodies of the mediums, their hand movements inside the lattice
basket would dip the writing instrument onto a sheet of paper which recorded the
message.

54
Hieu, Dao su xay ban , 17.

27


Illustration 1: Corbeille-a-bec
55

Among the early messages using the corbeille-a-bec method, was one on April 24, 1926
which shed details on the identity of the Cao Dai and its reason for emerging in Vietnam:
Formerly, people lacked transportation and therefore did not know each
other. I then founded at different epochs and in different areas, five
branches of the Great Way: Religion of Humanity, Geniism, Christianity,
Taoism and Buddhism, each based on the customs of the race. In present
days, transportation has been improved, and people have come to know
each other better. But people do not always live in harmony because of the
very multiplicity of those religions. That is why I have decided to unite all
those religions into ONE to bring them to the primordial unity. Moreover,
the Holy Doctrine has been, through centuries more and more denatured
by the people responsible for spreading it, I have been suffering seeing
that human beings for almost ten thousand years have been committing
crimes and spending their life in Hell for ever. I have now firmly resolved
to come Myself to show you the Way.
56


The future of the world, as envisioned by Cao Dai, was one in which disparate cultures
were equally imbued by Cao Dai and could thus be melded together. Indeed, they were
already engaging in this act of blending through their use of Western apparatuses
(corbeille-a-bec, table-tournante, Ouija boards) with Taoist practices of communicating
with Asian deities. The purpose in Cao Dais suggestion for the Pho loan group to meet

55
Hum Dac Bui, Caodaism a Novel Religion (Redlands Ca.: Chan Tam, 1992), 16.

56
Thanh Ngon Hiep Tuyen, Q.1 [The Collection of Divine Messages, Vol. 1].
28

with Ngo Minh Chieu was now clear. The Caodaist was to find other ways in which this
cultural blending could occur, which would then shape the religions overall mission.
Despite this call for unity, the meeting of the minds was not destined to last, as
disagreements in the purpose of the religion led Ngo Minh Chieu and his followers to
leave the group. Chieu was not convinced that the religions primary goal should be the
prosyletization of adherents, as his Pho loan brethren argued. Chieu was more keen on
emphasizing the esoteric component of Caodaism, which prioritized the enrichment of
ones soul through ascetic meditation and seclusion from society.
57
In other words,
Chieu believed the relationship between Cao Dai and adherent to be entirely personal and
that only through an individuals deep connection and understanding with Cao Dai could
individuals exist in harmony with each other. Chieu and his followers thus ventured to
create his own branch of Caodaism in the city of Can Tho. Having already predicted the
departure of Chieu, Cao Dai had advised the group to seek out Le Van Trung, an
influential businessman, politician, and member of the dominant Colonial Council.
58

Trung was able to demonstrate his fortitude early on when, on January 9, 1926, he
resolved to quit smoking opium, following a sance in which the spirit of Ly Thai Bach, a
Tang poet, predicted a promising future for Trung.
59
With Pham Cong Tac serving as

57
Dai Dao Tam Ky Pho Do, Caodai, Its Concepts, http://caodai.org/pages/?pageID=15 (accessed May 5,
2010).

58
Chris Hartney, Institutionalising Spiritism and The Esoteric: The Case of the Cao Dai. (Paper
presented at CESNUR 99 conference, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania),
http://www.cesnur.org/testi/bryn/br_hartney.htm (accessed May 5, 2010); Smith, An Introduction to
Caodaism, 14.

59
Hum Dac Bui, The Mother Goddess. (Presentation at the Asian Studies on the Pacific Coast
Conference, June 18, 2005) http://www.caodai.org/forum/viewmessage.aspx?ForumDetailID=70 (accessed
May 5, 2010).
29

leader of Caodaisms spirit medium branch, Trung was offered the role of Giao Tong
(Pope), a position declined by Ngo Minh Chieu.
The religion then embarked on a mission to recruit additional followers
throughout 1926. Since almost all of its founders were somehow connected with the
colonial administrative government, it was quite easy for the early Caodaists to enroll
many of their peers, who also shared a sense of moral purpose in uniting the
Cochinchinese populace. The group then expanded into the urban areas of Cochinchina
where they found the most success in recruiting schoolteachers, physicians, and business
owners.
60
Their gatherings typically involved a demonstration of spirit communication, in
which members of the audience were able to communicate with deceased family
members or local folk deities. This was usually followed by sermons detailing the aims
of Caodaism and an induction of new members into the religion. These public
demonstrations proved to be highly successful for Caodai membership swelled to 20,000
within the first six months of this campaign.
61
By October 7, 1926, feeling confident that
he had the necessary political support from Vietnamese elites and enough followers, Le
Van Trung and 27 other high-ranking Caodaists signed an official declaration of the Cao
Dai religion to the French Governor-General of Cochinchina, Alexandre Varenne.
62

Indeed, this exemplifies the religions consideration for making Caodaism a true
institution in the legal sense. This is what separated them from other religious movements
like the Minh Ly or the Hoa-Hao, who were content with inspiring grass-roots

60
Oliver, Caodai Spiritism, 40.

61
Bernard Fall, The Political-Religious Sects of Vietnam, 238.

62
Trung Hau Nguyen, A Short History of Caodaism (Tay Ninh VN: 1956), 34.
30

associations with little structure. For these groups, less structure allowed them to
maneuver around the gaze of the colonial government. Caodaists, on the other hand,
were intent on publicly declaring their religion as an example of a modern institution on
par with the worlds other great religious traditions. The Caodaists were so confident that
their efforts would impress the colonial government that they deemed the Governors
reply to be certainly assured and went ahead with the inauguration of Caodaism on
November 18, 1926, at the Tu Lam Pagoda in the city of Go Ken (Tay Ninh Province).
63

Despite their optimism, a response was never received from the Governor-General. This
failure of Caodaism to establish itself as a recognized religion may have been the
motivation that framed the religions continuous efforts to set out and prove its
legitimacy on the world stage.
A few aspects should be pointed out concerning Caodaisms origins. The first
being the role of its founders, who were educated, trained, and employed within a
colonial framework. These individuals were the first generation of Vietnamese most
influenced by and well-adapted to the French colonial governments vision of an urban,
commerce-driven society. They characterized a new petite-bourgeoisie with an entirely
Western outlook towards a future which no longer maintained the link with
Confucianism and thus came under the influence of modern revolutionary ideas.
64


63
Mohammad Jahangir Alam, Cao Dai Understanding of God. Philosophy and Progress (December
2008) http://english.caodai.net/index.php?option=com_content&
view=article&id=78:cao-dai-understanding-of god&catid=35:Various%20Essays&Itemid
=60 (accessed May 5, 2010).

64
J. Chesneaux, Stages in the Development of the Vietnam National Movement 1862-1940." Past and
Present 7 (April 1955): 70.
31

In addition to witnessing firsthand the effects of colonization on the general
populace, they were also simultaneously best-positioned to exert major change within
Vietnam. It should also be immediately clear that Caodaism, at least during its first few
years, was not framed as a peasant movement as earlier scholars such as Samuel Popkin
and James Scott had argued. The overwhelming majority of its early members hailed
from the upper echelons of society. This also meant that they were heavily conditioned
by the entrepreneurial ethic to seek growth by accumulating excess quantities, whether
this entailed rice or, in this case, followers. Indeed, it was often out of necessity that
colonized peoples emulated the institutions erected by their colonial masters. In regards
to religion, Thomas Dubois acknowledged in his book Casting Faiths that colonial rule
bureaucratized vast expanses of daily life, at home and in overseas possessions, requiring
a standard understanding of religion that would apply across cultures.
65
The
entrepreneurial ethic was what was required to succeed in the framework constructed by
the colonial government. Le Van Trung was the clearest example of this upbringing, for
scholars have claimed that it was through his personal connections from being a member
of the Colonial Council that allowed the religion to attract so many from the Vietnamese
elite class.
66
Furthermore, Trungs business contacts were the ones who financed
Caodaisms early demonstrations throughout Cochinchina.
67
Indeed Trung made careful
considerations for how the religion would be managed, capitalizing on, the worlds of
business and colonial administration in recruiting a leadership cadre of colonial

65
Thomas Dubois, Casting Faiths: Imperialism and the Transformation of Religion in East and Southeast
Asia (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009), 4.

66
Fall, The Political-Religious Sects of Viet-Nam," 238.

32

secretaries, interpreters, sub-prefects and some wealthy property owners and financiers,
all of whom, were 'sociologically competent'.
68
As Chapter 3 will show, one can also not
understate the importance of Pham Cong Tacs Catholic upbringing. As one of the three
original members of the Pho loan, Tac became Caodaisms Spiritual Pope (Ho Phap)
after the religions inception in October of 1926. Yet it was his experience of being raised
a Catholic that informed Tacs adaption of the Catholic Churchs institutional model and
hierarchy during the construction of Caodaisms Holy See Temple.
69

The second point that one should take away from this chapter, concerns the form
of the religion itself. Since it was not until well after the founding of the religion that
Caodais doctrinal texts would be recorded (covered in the next chapter), the only
principles available to early Caodaists were the details surrounding Cao Dais revelation.
Moreover, it was what the Cao Dai represented that initially attracted followers.
Believing that Cao Dai desseminated his message to major cultural figures in the past (e.g.
Jesus Christ, Mohammed, Moses, Confucius, etc.) and that his essence pervaded all
living things, Caodaism was able to demonstrate cultural parity or even superiority as
well as establish an historical tradition that people could point to as an example of
Vietnams cultural significance within the world. If Cao Dais vision were to be true in
the future, Vietnam would become the site in which the worlds Supreme Deity revealed
itself.


68
Fall, The Political-Religious Sects of Viet-Nam," 330.

69
My-Van Tran, The Life and Work of His Holiness Ho Phap Pham Cong Tac (Washington: Cao Dai
Overseas Missionary, 2001), 3.
33

PART II: GLOBAL IDENTITIES

This chapter expands on the early years of Caodaism by looking at its key tenets
and religious practices. First, this paper examines how the application of salvation
ideology created a sense of communality within Caodais adherents. The underlying
theme of this chapter is the distinction between form versus content, a concept used by
Olga Dror in her analysis of Vietnamese cult formation. The allure of Caodaism was not
so much due to what the religion advocated but was instead due to how the religion
outwardly represented itself. The chapter will address how early Caodaists were able to
convert their moral mission into a form that would have broad mass appeal to not only
Vietnams general populace but for individuals outside of Vietnam. It was Caodaisms
unique ability to bring about religious tolerance that became the external, public
expression adapted in foreign media. This chapter also observes how this privileging of
form over content was demonstrated by the historical and spiritual figures associated with
Caodaism. Because Caodaists envisioned themselves as an intermediary for the worlds
religions, careful attention was given to which individuals would personify Cao Dais
cosmopolitan reach.

Salvation and Solidarity
Having accomplished the initial stage of recruitment, Caodaists were given
further instruction by the Supreme Deity to begin recording the primary religious
doctrines via sance ritual. Consequently, the span of time between 1926 and 1929
34

marked Caodaisms most active period of spirit communication.
70
Their efforts
ultimately yielded Caodaisms four primary collections of liturgy: the Thanh-Ngon-Hiep-
Tuyen, Tan Luat, The-Luat, and Phap Chanh Truyen.
The Thanh-Ngon-Hiep-Tuyen (Collection of Spirit Messages) was the most
straightforward document, since it was simply a record of important sance messages
from Caodaisms pantheon of spirits (discussed in the next section). The two-volume
compilation held over 170 messages in Vietnamese, French and Chinese, and mainly
consisted of statements on the moral necessity of Caodaism in the world.
71
The Tan Luat
(New Code), in contrast, was a prescriptive text that outlined the rules for dignitaries
wishing to preach Caodai doctrine. Most of these were guidelines on how positions were
filled and the process of advancement within Caodaism.
72
Similarly, the The-Luat
(Laws of Secular Life) established guidelines pertaining to the behavior and livelihoods
of Caodai followers.
73
These regulations were heavily borrowed from the tam-giao
doctrines. Lastly, the Phap Chanh Truyen (Religious Constitution) detailed the
structural hierarchy of the Caodai church and specified the managerial duties of Caodai
dignitaries.
74
The Religious Constitution was organized as a series of question and
response interactions between the Cao Dai and its followers. This allowed for there to be

70
Thanh Ngon Hiep Tuyen, Q.2 [The Collection of Divine Messages, Vol. 2] (Tay Ninh VN: 1970).

71
Oliver, Caodai Spiritism, 48.

72
Thanh Ngon Hiep Tuyen, Tan Luat [The Collection of Divine Messages, New Canonical Codes] (Tay
Ninh VN: 1972).

73
Thanh Ngon Hiep Tuyen, The Luat [The Collection of Divine Messages, Secular Codes] (Tay Ninh VN:
1972).

74
Jayne Susan Werner, Peasant Politics and Religious Sectarianism: Peasant and Priest in the Cao Dai in
Vietnam (New Haven: Yale University Southeast Asia Studies, 1981), 10.
35

changes made to the Constitution if certain situations demanded a clearer explanation
from Cao Dai. For instance, Pham Cong Tac once asked Cao Dai why there was a need
for two popes when the Catholic system only had one. Cao Dai responded:
If I granted the Pope (Giao-Tong) full powers over bodies and souls (that
is, over the Temporal and the Spiritual), what good would the Hiep-Thien-
Dai (Legislative Branch) be? The Cuu-Trung-Dai (Executive Branch) is
the Temporal and the Hiep-Thien-Dai is the Spiritual. Without the
Spiritual, the Temporal has no right and without the Temporal, the
Spiritual has no strength. Strength and right must unite to recreate the
world. This is the good way for you so that you will unite, and help one
another and ensure that My Divine Doctrine does not degenerate into
Profane Teaching.
75


Each text was recorded in piece-meal fashion through three years (1926-1929) of
sance rituals in temples and private homes across Vietnam. Despite being largely an
amalgamation of aspects from Vietnams tam-giao, Caodaists surprisingly developed a
coherent and consistent foundation for their religion. The esoteric aim of the religion
stressed cultivation of ones material and spiritual self by adhering to the main precepts
stressed by each branch of the tam-giao.
76
Aside from these main precepts, however, the
Caodai religion was relatively shallow in their interpretations of the original religions
they borrowed from. Rather, the precepts were necessarily shallow for a deep
contemplation on the content of one religion over another would have exhibited religious
preference which would disrupt the overall form of Cao Dai as a religious brotherhood.

75
Thanh Ngon Hiep Tuyen, Phap Chanh Truyen [The Collection of Divine Messages, Religious
Constitution] (Tay Ninh VN: 1972), 14.

76
Confucianisms three duties (tam cang) and five essential virtues (ngu thuong), Buddhisms three
obligations (tam qui) and five prohibitions (ngu gioi), and Taoisms three jewels (tam buu) and the five
elements (ngu hanh); Thanh Ngon Hiep Tuyen, Tan Luat.
36

At the meta-level, Caodaism implored its adherents to dedicate themselves to the ideals
of universal love and global harmony.
As lofty as these goals may have seemed, however, they were far from being
innovative. During the 1920s and 1930s, groups such as the Minh Ly and the Hoa-Hoa
religious sects were simultaneously advocating ideas of peace and solidarity. What
separated Caodaism from these other groups was an understanding of the socio-economic
transformation occurring in Cochinchina. Caodaists recognized that the emergence of
modernization meant Cochinchina no longer possessed the social bonds characterized by
communal societies; that modern societies were fraught with divisions of socio-economic
class. As a society moved away from communal relationships and towards highly-
specialized divisions of labor, individuals in the modern nation-state had to be
conditioned to live amongst others.
77
Religion was just one of the institutions in which
individuals were able to experience communion with others.
Caodaists were able to bring together diverse components of society by
repositioning social conflict within a realm of divine ordinance. Among the most
important concepts put forward during the sance communications with Cao Dai, was the
division of history into three epochs or amnesties. It was believed that in the first amnesty,
Cao Dai transmitted its message to religious figures and prophets such as Mohammed
and Moses. This ultimately led to the creation of the main religions (Christianity,
Buddhism, and Islam) as well as the worlds other religious and philosophical traditions.
In the second amnesty, mankind corrupted Cao Dais message of universal love by

77
Ernest Gellner, Nations and Nationalism, (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1983).
37

making religion culturally and temporally bound. Thus, according to Cao Dais temporal
stratification, the world was destined to undergo a period of social strife. However,
individuals should find solace in the knowledge that there would be a third and final
period in which Cao Dai would help unify the worlds religions and bring forth cosmic
harmony. Most likely this concept was derived from Buddhist notions of the coming of
the Maitreya Buddha to enlighten the world.
78
Humanity would subsequently find itself
existing within a utopian society. This not only created an ideal for Vietnams masses to
rally around but additionally tapped into a compelling salvationist sensibility. The idea
of salvation itself can find expression in two different ways. On the one hand, salvation
can instill a sense of solidarity in which the barriers separating various sectors of society
are torn down. In his work on popular religions in Japan, Shimazono Susumu observes
how salvation can allow individuals to see beyond the differences that separate one
another and that in the process of breaking out of the shell of the same troubled
existence individuals share a moment of solidarity.
79

What distinguished Cao Dais claims from other salvation models was that
humans would be responsible for this change, albeit with guidance via spirit
communication. In addition, the idea of salvation can recreate artificial forms of
communal patron-client relationships, to which the role of Caodai elites was absolutely
crucial. Even though Cao Dai was the Supreme Deity, its sovereignty only extended to
the spiritual domain. The ones ultimately responsible for the well-being and maintenance

78
M. Sarkisyanz, On the Place of Caodaism Culturally and Politically, Journal of Asian Studies 18.2
(1984): 176.

79
Shimazona Sususmu, From Salvation to Spirituality, (Melbourne: Trans Pacific Press, 2004), 55.
38

of the physical world were its own inhabitants. Thus salvation was seen more as a
continuous process of humanitys moral growth. Additionally, the Caodaist would have
inhabited a unique role in leading the Vietnamese people to this next stage in time.
Mostly comprised of Vietnams elite class, Caodaists possessed the means to bring about
this transformation. In contrast to Confucian and Buddhist doctrines that often stress
moderation and asceticism, Caodai adherents were encouraged in their financial pursuits,
so long as they made their appropriate contribution to the betterment of society:
It is at the same time a duty and a right to gain economic solidarity and to
be able to give moral and material assistance. This is the source of the
second original aspect of Caodaism: from the civil point of view or rather
for its social action.
80


For the parts of society that Caodaists initially had trouble attracting (those within the
lower strata of society), this idea was an alluring prospect. Many Cochinchinese became
attuned to the progressive, millenarian ideas that advocated a social vanguard of elites
helping those less fortunate. In turn, Caodaists believed this self-bestowed duty of
encouraging Vietnams development would generate moral growth for humanity which
offered a brighter alternative to the bleak future dominated by the Social Darwinian
discourse. In the final amnesty envisioned by Caodaists, competition of any form would
be deemed pointless since mankinds spiritual growth would demand harmony and
collaboration.
81

As observed in the previous chapter, the social conditions of Cochinchina
reflected a deep anxiety due to its diminishing connection with Vietnamese communal

80
Gobron, History and Philosophy of Caodaism, 72.

81
Tai, Radicalism and Origins of the Vietnamese Revolution, 190.
39

traditions. The concept of salvation served to diminish this anxiety by instilling solidarity,
hope, and purpose. Salvation is also related to the idea of cultural hybridity. In this case it
was not realized in physical or tangible forms but through shared experience. The belief
that time was synchronized into these three epochs and that all individuals in the world
would, in their own path, move towards a common end, created a sense of hybrid
community. While ones experience and approach would certainly differ from those
around, the knowledge that there were others at least engaged in the same process proved
to be an inspirational, unifying belief.
Exact figures for these newcomers of Caodaism were difficult to determine, but a
general impression of how quickly the religion spread can be gleaned by the following
estimates. Nguyen Tran Huan, a Vietnamese historian on Caodaism writes that Cao Dai
had roughly half a million followers by 1931.
82
Other sources place this number much
higher, with Ellen J. Hammer claiming that Caodai membership was well over 1 million
followers by 1930, whereas G. Abadie puts the number of Caodaists within Cochinchina
as numbering "more than 1 million out of 3 1/2 million inhabitants.
83
Official statements
from Le Van Trung, the first Caodai pope, came up with this same amount, but claimed it
was reached as early as 1928 (only two years since the start of the religion).
More importantly than quantity, however, and not as emphasized by scholars is
the change in disposition that saw the Caodaist mission as being a part of a larger global
movement. The immense success of propagating Caodaism in Vietnam encouraged

82
Gobron, History and Philosophy of Caodaism, 16.

83
Oliver, Caodai Spiritism, 42.
40

Caodaists to begin establishing the mission beyond Vietnam and to start packaging
Caodaism as an outwardly-focused, cosmopolitan religion. This global initiative led to
the establishment of Cao Dais Foreign Mission which they situated in the city of Phnom
Penh in neighboring Cambodia. In April of 1927, under the supervision of Pham Cong
Tac, construction began on a temple to spread Caodaism throughout Cambodia. Within
the span of a year, Caodaists were successful in winning over more than 10,000
Cambodian adherents.
84

85
Similar attempts were later made to open up congregations in
Tonkin and Annam. However, colonial authorities forbade the religion from taking hold
in these areas due to the protectorate status which did not regard the inhabitants as direct
colonial citizens of France and thus made them ineligible for the same privileges as the
Cochinchinese.
86


Landscaping Heaven: Your Gods are Our Gods
Even though Caodaism could potentially instill solidarity amongst its own people
in Cochinchina, it was not able to provide a convincing proof to overcome the belief that
some cultures were more highly successful than others. One could argue that their
progress only heightened this inequality, since Cochinchinese citizens were regarded as
intrinsically inferior to the French regardless of their socio-economic status. Indeed, the
question of ethnicity and nationality still loomed as an obstacle that would be needed to

84
Sergei, Blagov, Caodaism: Global Ambition vs. Persecution, Paper presented at CESNUR 99
conference, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania. http://www.cesnur.org/testi/bryn/br_blagov.htm (accessed May 5,
2010).

85
Chuong trinh giang Dao [The programme for teaching Religion]. (Saigon VN: 1928).

86
Blagov, Caodaism: Global Ambition vs. Persecution.
41

be addressed by Caodaists. If they were to establish themselves overseas, Caodaists
would have to demonstrate true national parity and bring about cross-cultural
appreciation.
Although Caodaists considered their message as one that could and should be
adopted universally, the religion was realistic in their efforts. Instead of forcing others to
adopt their message they emphasized that at every religions primal, most basic
constitution, the message was the same. Caodaists believed in stressing the similarities of
core religion rather than pointing out abstract deviations that led to claims of superiority
of one religion over another. The religions Five Paths was one manner in which this
approach was manifested. Cao Dai claimed responsiblity for the formations of the
worlds great religions. Recognizing that cultural ties were already ingrained into these
religions, Caodaists prescribed different pathways to practicing the Dai-Dao (The Great
Path). These included the Nhan-Dao (Human-Path, for Confucianism), the Tinh-Dao
(Spirit-Path, for Taoism), Than-Dao (Genie-Path, for worship of genii or protective
deities), Thanh-Dao (Saintly-Path, for Christianity), and Phat-Dao (Buddha-Path for
Buddhism).
87
With a touch of creativity, Caodaists were able to incorporate all the
worlds religions into one of these branches based on the outlook of the religion. Islam,
for instance, would be classified as belonging to the Thanh-Dao since the belief in
Mohammed as a messenger and representative for God would make the religion most
closely resembling one based on divine Saints. Because there existed multiple pathways,
there was no need for an individual to even know of Caodaism, for so long as an

87
Gobron, History and Philosophy of Caodaism, 36.
42

individual followed some form of universal love, the world would inch closer towards
harmony.
To become a Caodaist, one needs make no profession of faith, he needs
not be bound to any sacrament: freedom of conscience is sovereign. The
institution lives and prospers, not of the forced will of its adherents, but of
their free consent, their spontaneous and voluntary adhesion.
88


Not only did this allow those from other religions to embrace Caodaism without
forsaking their own belief systems, it gave the Caodai practitioner immense liberties to
adapt religion to fit his/her needs.
There was, however, one unique feature of Caodaism that served to distinguish
itself from other religions, yet ensure equilibrium within its congregation: the regular
communication with spirit entities from higher planes of existence. This concept of spirit
communication, however, was by no means a novel concept within Vietnam. There was
indeed an historical tradition of spirit communication that dated back to Chinese Taoist
traditions of oracle bone rituals.
89
The goal of course, in both the Chinese tradition and
the Caodaist ritual, was to learn directly from spiritual entities, such as the Cao Dai.
Naturally, the Caodai pantheon included many of Vietnam and Chinas religious figures
and folk heroes.
90
For those wishing to communicate with spirits deemed to be High
Spirits or even with the Supreme Deity Cao Dai, however, the only pathway was
through Caodaist training. Caodaists believed that the ability to communicate with spirits

88
Gobron, History and Philosophy of Caodaism, 71.

89
Hartney, Institutionalising Spiritism and The Esoteric.

90
Janet Hoskins, From Kuan Yin to Joan of Arc: Iconography and Gender in Cao Dai Temples
(Presentation at the Asian Studies on the Pacific Coast Conference, June 17, 2005)
http://www.caodai.org/forum/viewmessage.aspx?ForumDetailID=71 (accessed May 5, 2010).
43

correlated with ones spiritual fluid which was accumulated over time within the
religion. While admission into the higher levels of priesthood tended to favor those
within the upper echelons of society, there were no discriminatory stipulations that
forbade commoner Caodai members from advancing to administrative posts. Instead,
postings were based on a devotional system of vegetarianism, celibacy, fervent
proselytism, and ones capacity to communicate with spirits (as determined by those in
senior-level positions). Mediums were required to undergo extensive training within the
School of Mediums established by Pham Cong Tac in 1930. Nonetheless, it was
egalitarian in the sense that theoretically anyone willing to endure this process may be
able to commune with the spirits, regardless of ethnicity, gender or socio-economic
class.
91
By creating a space in which even laymen were able to communicate with the
divine, the sance ritual promoted direct and equal spiritual access for all of its adherents.
However, the most important potential that spirit communication held, one related
to the problem of cultural inequality raised earlier, was that it reshaped the divine
dimensions of the worlds religions. Included among the over 70 spirit entities
encountered over the history of Caodaism, were Western religious entities such as Jesus
Christ, Joan of Arc, Annie Besant, and Mohammed, to name a few.
92
However, Caodaists
were also mindful of including important historical figures such as Rene Descartes, Louis

91
Caodai Overseas Missionary, Elimination of Poverty: Caodai Experience. http://english.caodai.net/
index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=69:Elimination%20of%20Poverty%20:%20Caodai%20
experience&catid=35:Various%20Essays&Itemid=60 (accessed May 5, 2010).

92
Alam, Cao Dai Understanding of God.

44

Pasteur, William Shakespeare, Vladimir Lenin, and Charlie Chaplin.
93
These figures
demonstrate the wide array of cultural figures residing within the Caodai pantheon. The
religion sought to not only incorporate diverse religions, but also significant producers of
diverse cultural forms.
Aside from Caodai religious deities, the most influential Western secular spirit
was the French poet and academic Victor Hugo. In fact, when the Caodaists set out to
build their Overseas Missionary Temple in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Hugos spirit
became a recurring presence within the sance rituals.
94
Hugos advice on how to best
approach foreign prosyletization was so influential that he became the designated
representative spirit for all of Caodaisms foreign missions.
95
His image still remains on
the South wall of Caodais main temple at Tay Ninh, as he is one component of Caodais
Three Saints (along with Sun Yat Sen, the founder of the first Chinese republic, and
Trang Trinh Nguyen Binh Khiem, a 16
th
century poet and prophet in Vietnam).
96
By
redefining the conventions of sacrality, Caodais divine pantheon demonstrated that even
the worlds most celebrated spirits were able to exist in communion, despite boundaries
of ethnicity, nationality, and above all culture. What was difficult to show in the material
world was affirmed in the upper spiritual world. The role of Victor Hugo functioned as an
inverse of previous attempts at hybridization, in that Western individuals were being

93
Hill, Millenarian Machines in South Vietnam," 329.

94
Hieu. Dao su xay ban, 45.

95
Blagov, Caodaism and Spiritism.

96
Caodai Overseas Missionary, The Three Saints http://english.caodai.net/index.php?option=com_
content&view=article&id=50:the-three-saints&catid=35:Various%20Essays&Itemid=60 (accessed May 5,
2010).
45

incorporated into a traditionally Asian system of worship. Above all, communication
with Western spirits demonstrated to Caodaists that foreign individuals were indeed
receptive to Asian cultural systems. While this was not the most concrete example that
Caodaists were looking for, they would not have to wait long before a Westerner in
tangible form arrived to help the religion fulfill its global dissemination

White Caodaist: The Vietnamese Odyssey of Gabriel Gobron
The previous section showed how Western entities were featured in Caodaist
spiritist practices. For Caodaism to truly broaden its scope, the religion would need to
produce an ideal example of how Caodaism could benefit individuals outside of Vietnam.
Practitioners would have to show that the synchronization of two supposedly diametric
cultures was possible. One of the earliest messages by Cao Dai in 1926 declared that the
Vietnamese and the French, as his chosen races, would be the ones to spread his will
across the world.
97
Cao Dai encouraged the Vietnamese people to hold no grudges
against their colonizers, for it was fate that brought the two cultures together and allowed
Cao Dai to appear before them. Cao Dai predicted that an era of French-Vietnamese
collaboration was just over the horizon.
In July of 1941, the Caodaists conducted a sance with an important yet
somewhat atypical entity, a relatively unknown French colonial functionary named
Gabriel Gobron. Located in the city of Tay Ninh (about 35 miles northwest from present-
day Saigon), Cao Dais principal temple, the Holy See, was to be the staging ground for

97
Hartney, Institutionalising Spiritism and The Esoteric.
46

this ceremony. Sance rituals tended to be carried out during early evening services,
when spiritual energy and activity were optimal and the chance of encountering evil
spirits was relatively low. Since specific rituals of this magnitude were concealed from
the general populace, those within the viewing audience may have only included French
and Vietnamese administrative officials or foreign dignitaries and journalists writing on
the religion.
98
This audience would have occupied the second floor balconies overseeing
the lower floor, which was used exclusively for ceremonial and religious service
purposes. Also on the second floor were official ceremonial musicians situated above the
north end of the temple where the altar was located.
At the beginning of each sance ritual, senior Cao Dai members were the first to
enter on the lower level. These dignitaries would take their seats in the rows of seat
cushions closest to the altar. At this point, the rest of the congregation would file in from
the east and west entrances on the lower level. Women would enter from the left (facing
the altar), men from the right. All laymen were dressed in white robes. For most spirit
communication ceremonies, participation was limited to certain, higher members of the
laity. After members had taken their seats, the Cao Dai Superior (Ho Phap) of the
Legislative Body assumed his position nearest the altar. In 1941, this position was taken
by Pham Cong Tac, the second pope to serve within the religion and under whose
guidance saw a growth of adherents to over 2 million in the 1940s.
99
After welcoming
the congregation and addressing any pertinent in-house issues, Pham Cong Tac would

98
Hien phap Hiep Thien Dai [The Constitution of Hiep Thien Dai] (Tay Ninh VN: 1973).

99
After Le Van Trungs death in November of 1934, Pham Cong Tac immediately replaced him as the
Pope of the Executive Branch.
47

have led the audience through the chanting of ritual prayers. These prayers were
accompanied by music from the upper level ensemble and followed by altar offerings.
As outlined in Cao Dais Chuong trinh hanh Do (Program for practicing Religion), this
ritual was comprised of three groups of offerings fruit and flowers; water, wine, and
tea; and five joss sticks.
100
With these preparations complete, the actual sance ritual
would commence.
Using the corbeille-a-bec method required five participants to ensure the accuracy
and success of each spirit communication.
101
The Phap dan (also called Phap su in some
sects) was the central performer who oversaw all aspects of the ritual, including the
gathering of accoutrements, the cleansing of the temple and altar (to ward off evil spirits),
and the purification of the mediums employed (achieved by using a flower to sprinkle
holy water onto the mediums). The Phap dan was always a high member within the
religion who sat nearest the altar and would lead the congregation in the invocation of
spirit entities, a procedure known as cau co or cau tien. Underneath the Phap dan, sat
two face-to-face mediums holding the corbeille-a-bec parallel to the altar. The mediums,
or dong tu, were not monks within Cao Dai but nonetheless followed certain conventions.
They were explicitly forbidden, for instance, to engage in spiritist practices not
sanctioned by Cao Dai. The official interpreter, or doc gia, was also a high-ranking
member whose responsibility in this process was to read aloud each message for the
congregation. Finally the dien ky, or secretary, was tasked with transcribing each

100
Chuong trinh hanh Dao [The programme for practicing Religion] (Saigon VN: 1939).

101
Caodai Overseas Mission, A Summary of Cao-Dai Rituals. http://english.caodai.net/index.php?
option=com_content&view=article&id=48:A%20Summary%20of%20CaoDai%20Rituals&catid=35:Vario
us%20Essays&Itemid=60 (accessed May 5, 2010).
48

message into the records book. The sance was officially concluded once the Phap dan
determined the message to be successfully transcribed and which the spirit departs from
the mediums.
The significance of this particular ritual revolves entirely around the spirit that
was invoked. The message given by this spirit was not recorded into the religious code
or even the records that tracked communication with the Supreme Deity, for it was not
the Supreme Deity that was contacted on this particular day. In fact, the spirit held no
prior position among the pantheon of Vietnamese or even Asian genii and historical
figures. Yet the purpose for which this spirit was contacted would have a profound effect
on how the religion was understood and disseminated. Indeed, Gabriel Gobron (1895-
1941) had become the representative international face of Caodaism, known more widely
in foreign countries than even the official Caodai dignitaries.
Not much was known about Gabriel Gobron outside of his religious activities,
save the fact that he developed into a prolific poet and an administrative official in the
Vietnam colonial administration under the French Vichy government. His linguistic skills
as a German and Italian translator of spiritist writers made him a valuable asset for the
colonial government, which desired to know more about the rise of spiritist groups like
the Caodaists and the Minh Ly sects.
102
According to various Cao Dai texts, Gabriel
Gobron, or Frere Gago as he was affectionately referred to by fellow Caodaists, was
converted to the Cao Dai faith in 1930 by Tran Quang Vinh, Pham Cong Tacs right hand

102
Blagov, Caodaism and Spiritism.
49

man.
103
At the time, Tran had been travelling across France establishing chapters of
French dignitaries and followers. Gobron had reportedly been deeply curious about the
wisdom that Asian religions embodied and was particularly interested in Caodaism
because it advocated true spirituality.
104
It was during this brief tenure in the 1930s,
that Gobron demonstrated his commitment to Cao Dai and was subsequently appointed
the faiths official historian. It only took Gobron a period of about five years before he
received his position of Instructor in the Caodai Legislative and Judiciary Branch (Hiep
Thien Dai) and began writing the official history of Caodaism in French. Unfortunately,
his life as a Caodaist was cut tragically short by an unnamed illness in 1941. Peculiarly,
however, the book was published in 1949 with articles written well after his death on July
8, 1941. Thus, the ritual previously described (as well as a few more later on) was
carried out with the specific purpose of completing his unfinished book.
105
It also served
the purpose of officially integrating Gobron into Caodais spirit pantheon.
The fact that a Frenchman was employed to record Caodaisms history, reveals
the religions attention to the form in which Caodaism would be disseminated. As
mentioned throughout the paper, Caodaism was started by South Vietnamese elites, many
of whom were employed within the administrative government. This required a fluency
in French on their part and, indeed, many of its members were prolific writers in French
journals. After Gobrons passing, any number of adherents would have been able to

103
Tran Quang Van was the Chief of the Foreign Mission of Cao Dai and became Commander-in-Chief of
Cao Dais military forces during the violent, revolutionary period of the early 1940s. In 1948, he would
also become the Secretary of State for National Defense in the Provisional Government of Vietnam.

104
Blagov, Caodaism and Spiritism.

105
Gobron, History and Philosophy of Caodaism , 6-11.
50

complete the task handed to him. In the extreme case, the more pragmatic alternative
would have been to consult with a spirit that had a more intimate knowledge of Cao Dai
than that accumulated in Gobrons brief tenure. Gobrons status as an Instructor was a
lower mid-class position within the religion and by no accounts was he involved in any of
the religions major decisions. Yet, whatever role he played, it was important enough
that Caodaists warranted a sance ritual to communicate with him after his death. It is
thus clear that Gobrons identity as a white Frenchman and as part of the colonizing
nation was as great, if not greater, a concern than the message he provided.
This concept of form over content was extensively used by Olga Drors
monograph on the Vietnamese religious cult of Princess Lieu Hanh. Dror observes that
the majority of Lieu Hanhs followers had little to no familiarity of the princess
hagiographic details.
106
Many followers also differed in their interpretation of Lieu
Hanhs physical characteristics and the powers that she possessed. Thus, Dror argues
that it was never the content of Princess Lieu Hanhs life that made her extraordinary, but
was instead her outward role as a protective deity. The details of her life and the miracles
that she was able to perform were constantly reconfigured to meet the needs of the region,
and even the time, of those interpreting her myth.
107

The same could be said about Gabriel Gobron, in that Caodaists saw in him a
reflection of all the things that the religion sought to embody. Gobron was a
cosmopolitan, educated Frenchman, able to communicate in many languages. He was a

106
Olga Dror, Cult, Culture, and Authority: Princess Lieu Hanh in Vietnamese History, (Honolulu:
University of Hawaii Press, 2007).

107
Dror, Cult, Culture, and Authority, 7.
51

prolific writer, a profession whose very purpose was the dissemination of ideas through
words. Above all, Gobron was a Caodaist. Despite his Western cultural roots, Gobron
found legitimacy and merit in the teachings of Caodaism. Caodaists thus found their
solution to cross-cultural harmony on the back of a young idealist Frenchman.

Illustration 2: Gabriel Gobron
108

Within his short tenure in Caodaism, pictures of Gobron clad in the white robes of
the Caodai laity were widely disseminated. Furthermore, Gobron became the official
voice for Caodaists in religious conferences throughout the world. Most importantly, his
presence captivated the curiosity of media outlets hoping to discover the reasons for why
a Frenchman would adhere to such an eclectic religion. Aside from promoting awareness

108
Gobron, History and Philosophy of Caodaism, 17.
52

of the religion, one of Gobrons other main responsibilities was to garner empathy from
the global religious community and exert pressure on the colonial government to finally
recognize Caodaism as an official religion in Cochinchina. Two instances clearly show
this purpose. In 1934, the French newspaper, Revue Spirit devoted an editorial section on
Gobrons speech at the 1934 International Spiritual Congress of Barcelona. The
newspaper essentially urged the French government to recognize the Caodai faith with a
statute as liberal as that enjoyed by the Vietnamese converted to Christianity or those
remaining faithful to other Buddhist sects in the countries of the Indochina Union.
109
A
similar declaration was made by a French-language Cochinchina newspaper on Gobrons
participation in the 1937 International Spiritual Congress of Glasgow. The newspaper
expressed the hope that Vietnamese Spiritualists may enjoy in all the countries of the
Indochinese Union the same liberties of conscience and worship as Protestant and
Catholic Vietnamese, be they subjects, proteges, Eurasians or foreigners.
110

Despite the support from the international religious community, it is difficult to
gauge the success of Gobrons mission. On one hand, the religion never did receive
official religion status from the French colonial government. However, the presence of
Gobron clearly gave the religion an opportunity to establish its legitimacy among other
religions. The underlying themes that were emphasized throughout these conferences did
not concern Caodaisms mystical sance rituals or its Asian-centered religious doctrine.
Instead it was centered on the religions ability to successfully attract followers of all

109
Gobron, History and Philosophy of Caodaism, 75.

110
Gobron, History and Philosophy of Caodaism, 76..
53

cultures, with Gobron as Caodaisms most brilliant example. In his own words at the
1936 World Congress of Religions in London, Gobron declared that, Caodaism is the
very experience of the reconciliation of races and peoples for which you are gathered
here today.
111
Indeed, these words would not have had the same effect if it were uttered
by anyone but Gabriel Gobron, a successful product of cultural hybridization.


















111
Gobron, History and Philosophy of Caodaism, 75.
54

PART III: DUAL IDENTITIES

The term institution is often used to describe the function of religion because it
integrates the components necessary to imagine such a system. The elements of an
institution usually consist of a specific hierarchy of normative or prescriptive ideas that
govern a people, along with the knowledge that human agency drives and tailors the
system to accomplish a certain purpose. The last two chapters have shown how the
Caodai religion set out to embody a specific set of ideals as well as gather the adherents
necessary to sustain such a system. This chapter will investigate how the religion was
organized into a functional, centralized institution through the formation of an
autonomous community in the Tay Ninh province. In keeping with the theme of
hybridization, this paper argues that the Tay Ninh community embodied Emile
Durkheims two modes of communal solidarity (mechanical versus organic). The Tay
Ninh community functioned as a hybrid society that helped ease Caodai inhabitants into a
modern social structure. The chapter will conclude with an analysis on how the Caodai
institution was threatened by events happening in the socio-political arena (e.g. the
Japanese incursion in 1945 and Viet Minh attacks on Caodaism afterwards) and the ways
in which contemporary Caodaists have rebuilt the religion from outside Vietnam. This
paper also notes how diasporic Caodaists are using their identities as outsiders to exert
pressure on the government in Vietnam to ease its restrictions on the Tay Ninh
community.

55

Caodaism from the Center
The previous chapter ended with new opportunities for the religion to present
itself abroad. Accompanying this was a pressing need for the religion to establish its
religious center so that those abroad would be able to trace the religion to a specific locus.
Indeed, a primary distinction between institutional religions and new religious
movements is often the presence of sacred sites. The ability to point to a site as a
religions functional and spiritual center affirms a sense of permanency and legitimacy.
At the same time, the gathering of peoples around a sacred institution offers a glimpse
into the potency of the morals and ethics that drive that system. There was also a more
practical motive for Pham Cong Tac and Le Van Trung to establish this metropole. Since
Chieus departure from the religion, Caodaism was always wracked with religious
sectarianism. Thus, Caodaists would not only need to have a central branch to claim as
their own but a majestically decorated one at that. For these reasons and more, Caodaists
embarked on a plan to create a community that reflected their ideals of a utopian society.
Of utmost importance to Caodaists was choosing a setting that was ideal for
spiritual communication. Caodaist leaders also desired a location that offered them
relative autonomy from colonial interference. Thus the location would have to be outside
of Saigon, yet close enough so that its members in the colonial administrative
departments would be able to make pilgrimages on a regular basis. During its formative
years, sance rituals and public demonstrations were held in the Tu Lam Tu Buddhist
pagoda situated in Cholon (one of Saigons districts).
112
However, frictions between the

112
Trung Hau Nguyen, A Short History of Caodaism (Tay Ninh VN: 1956).
56

Caodaist congregation and the owners of the pagoda, the Hoa Thuong Giac Hai Buddhist
group, led Pham Cong Tac, then the Spiritual Pope of Caodaism, to the village of Long-
Thanh in Tay Ninh province, where Caodaist donors were able to buy a plot of land.
113

Fortunately, this move to Tay Ninh resolved many of the religions concerns. The
city itself was only 26 kilometers from the Cambodian border which made it relatively
easy to communicate with the Caodai Overseas Mission in Phnom Penh. Long-Thanh
was also located 100 kilometers northwest from Saigon which, at that time, amounted to
a four hour trip by car.
114
In addition, the province of Tay Ninh was largely undeveloped
allowing Caodaists to remain relatively secluded from the colonial government as well as
give them more liberty to construct a community according to their utopian vision. Most
importantly, however, was the spiritual affinity offered by Tay Ninh. During the 1916
anti-colonial uprisings in Saigon, the Heaven and Earth Society branch in Vietnam (Thien
Dia Hoi) used Tay Ninh province as their operations base. Tay Ninh was ideal as a
refuge site since it was relatively inconspicuous to the colonial troops and also the secret
society believed that powerful geomantic currents from the nearby Ba Den (Black
Lady) mountain imbued its followers with supernatural powers.
115
Locals also believed
that a powerful, female protective deity resided within the Ba Den mountain, hence the
origins of its name. Annual Mid-Autumn festivals were annually carried out in her

113
Gobron, History and Philosophy of Caodaism, 34.

114
Robert D. Fiala, Cao Dai Cathedral, Tay Ninh, Vietnam, http://www.oriental
architecture.com/vietnam/tayninh/caodai.php (accessed May 5, 2010).

115
Thomas Engelbert, Go West in Cochinchina. Chinese and Vietnamese Illicit Activities in the
Transbassac (c. 1860-1920s)" Chinese Southern Diaspora Studies 1 (2007): 76.
57

honor.
116
Lastly, Caodaists had only come to know about the city of Long-Thanh through
their connections with the Minh Ly spiritist group. Long before the Caodaists had
arrived, the Minh Ly had been using this site for their own spirit rituals, which only
affirmed the citys capacity to attract spirit deities.
Upon their resettlement, Caodaists immediately converted the donated Go-Ken
Buddhist Temple for Caodaist use in March of 1927.
117
Under instructions from sances
with Cao Dai, however, the temple was deemed too small and was cleared away to be
built from the ground up. With donated funds from Madame Lam Thi Thanh, a
businesswoman from My Tho and later the first female Caodai cardinal, construction
began on the Caodai Holy See.
118
Subsequent plots of land were accumulated around the
temple so that upon completion of the Holy See in 1932, Caodaists had in their
possession 500 hectares in which to build their Tay Ninh community. From the outset,
Caodaists sought to include all the makings of a modern, self-sustainable society. Thus,
later installations included schools and universities, a police station, an administrative
office, a central marketplace, hospitals, and a collection of light manufacturing
enterprises (a saw-mill, a weaving-mill, and a brickyard).
119
Furthermore, the city was
entirely run and operated by those within the Caodai congregation, which attested to Tay
Ninhs state-within-a-state autonomy.

116
Hoskins,From Kuan Yin to Joan of Arc: Iconography and Gender in Cao Dai
Temples.

117
Sergei Blagov, The Cao Dai: A New Religious Movement (Moscow: Institute of Oriental Studies, 1999),
53.

118
Smith, And Introduction to Caodaism, 8.

119
Gobron, History and Philosophy of Caodaism, 176.
58

Appearance-wise the Holy See clearly embodied the religions syncretic doctrine.
Elements from almost every religion could be spotted: from the Buddhist temple-styled
arched roofs, high Catholic Church steeple-spires, and the domed center which resembled
Islamic mosques. Splashed across the exterior and interior walls were vibrant murals
depicting the Caodaisms vast pantheon of spirits. The floor area in front of the great
altar was the temples most sacred space, the Cung Dao, which was where sance rituals
were conducted.
120
The interior also featured statues of Caodaisms more important
deities (i.e. Jesus Christ, Confucius, Siddhartha Gautama).
121
While one could have
certainly dissected these stylistic cues to discover their symbolic significance, many
outside the religion were overwhelmed by the seemingly incongruent fashion in which
these elements were assembled. In his 1956 novel The Quiet American, Graham Greene
labels the Holy See as a Walt Disney fantasia of the East, snakes and dragons in
technicolour.
122
In spite of these receptions, Caodaists were quite pleased with their
creation since, most importantly, it provided a center to which Caodaisms first
community would be built.





120
Hartney, Institutionalising Spiritism and The Esoteric.

121
Caodai Overseas Missionary What is the meaning of the HO PHAP altar at the Cao Dai Holy see in
Tay Ninh? http://english.caodai.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=75:what-is-the-
meaning-of-the-ho-phap-altar-at-the-cao&catid=35:Various%20Essays&Itemid=60

122
Graham, Greene, The Quiet American (New York: Penguin Books, 2004), 81.
59

Caodaism at the Poles
Within discourses on society formation, Emile Durkheim became known for his
functionalist treatment of social change.
123
Pre-industrial societies, he argued, were
organized around a system of mechanical solidarity, in which communities were based on
ethnic/kinship similarities and common ritual patterns. However, capitalist modes of
specialization and the socioeconomic division of society forced individuals to operate on
a system of organic solidarity, in which individuals performed specific roles as part of a
larger whole. This idea can be taken further by showing how the structural components of
Caodaism exhibited semblances of both modes of solidarity, in which members were
better able to cope with the forced modernization by French colonizers. On one hand,
Caodaist ritual practices imbued a sense of communality by routinizing the daily lives
of its adherents. On the other hand, the organization of Caodai featured an extensive
hierarchy with networks of specialized branches.
As outlined in the Laws of Secular Life (The-Luat) text, one of the central aims
of Caodai was to institutionalize a sense of brotherhood within its members. One way in
which this could be accomplished was by ritualizing the lives of its members. From the
time of an individuals induction as a Caodaist, his/her lifecycle was treated as a single
continuous ritual process. The inductee was first made to wait outside the Caodai temple,
while dignitaries consult local deities or spirits. Once an evaluation of the inductees
spiritual past was conducted, the inductee would often hear a summons to enter the

123
Emile Durkheim, The Division of Labor in Society, Translated by George Simpson, (New York: Free
Press of Glencoe, 1964).
60

temple, upon which he/she was allowed to officially join the religion.
124
On the rare
occasions when an inductee was refused admission, he/she was given guidance on how to
fix the concern that was blocking membership. The inductee was usually asked to either
give up a certain vice (i.e. smoking opium, drinking alcohol) or resolve an evil deed
incurred from a previous lifetime (typically through individual meditation or a
purification ritual carried out by a priest). The latter instance pointed to an interesting
feature of Caodaism, one which deemed spirit communication as a way for Caodaists to
peer into an individuals accumulated spiritual history over multiple lifetimes. Thus, a
Caodaists birth date was recorded but not his/her death date, since it was believed that
the spirit endured beyond the physical body.
125
This belief served two functions. First, if
spirits were deemed relevant enough, it allowed for them to participate in sance rituals
since their death only applied to the physical body. Secondly, an individuals spiritual
past often determined his/her potential significance within Caodaism. For instance,
during a sance ritual with Victor Hugo it was discovered that Tran Quang Vinh (the
Caodaist who recruited Gabriel Gobron; future Commander of the Caodai Army) was
actually the reincarnated spirit of Victor Hugos brother Abel. It thus made Vinh the
ideal person to lead the Caodai Overseas Mission.
From the inception of Caodaism into ones life, the individual became part of a
permanent pattern of life cycle rituals. Caodaists imagined their existence not in terms of
their physical bodies but as spirits that were in communion with their peers. Furthermore,
their spiritual selves were shaped in the context of participatory action within Caodaism.

124
Nguyen, Long Thanh, The Path of a Caodai Disciple, (Tay Ninh VN: 1970), 34.

61

Ones spiritual composition predetermined aspects such his/her capacity to engage with
spirits, affinity to a religious branch (i.e. whether the individual belonged to the
Confucian, Taoist, or Buddhist path), and potential for advancement within the religions
hierarchical structure (covered in the next section).
Another way in which the Tay Ninh community was able to foster traditional
forms of solidarity was to construct daily and yearly routines around the Caodaist. At the
macro-level, Caodaists were expected to adhere to life-cycle rites concerning religious
membership, births, deaths, illnesses, accidents, and advancements within the priesthood.
Not only were their own lives routinized but since Caodaists regarded themselves as parts
of a larger community, they were obligated to attend the life-cycle rites of other members
as well. Adherents were also required to observe a variety of rituals set aside for local
deities as well as the major festivals that commemorate the revelation of Cao Dai and
important milestones of the religion. In addition, every first and fifteenth day of the lunar
month was set aside for minor ceremonies that all Caodaists were to attend.
126
At the
micro-level, dedicated adepts were required to observe four daily ceremonies, occurring
within six-hour intervals (6AM, 12PM, 6PM, 12AM).
127
In fact, the Tay Ninh
community was known to temporarily suspend the entire citys activities at each of these
observation periods. Furthermore, a Caodaists initiation into the religion required
him/her to set aside days of vegetarianism for each month. Lower or newest adepts were
expected to follow for six days a month, which would increase as the Caodaist rose in

126
Caodai Overseas Missionary, A Summary of Cao-Dai Rituals.
http://english.caodai.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=48:A%20Summary%20of%20
Cao-Dai%20Rituals&catid=35:Various%20Essays&Itemid=60 (accessed May 5, 2010).

127
Thanh Ngon Hiep Tuyen, The Luat.
62

rank or seniority. Furthermore, to keep them routinized (and more practically to ease the
strain for Caodai kitchens) these days were predetermined. Those practicing
vegetarianism for six days, observed them on the 1st, 8th, 14th, 15th, 23rd, and 30
th
. For
those practicing for ten days, it would be on the 1st, 8th, 14th, 15th, 18th, 23rd, 24th, 28th,
29th, 30th days of the lunar month.
128

All of these efforts demonstrate the extent to which Caodaism conditioned aspects
of the Caodaists life to foster a sense of commonality and communality among its
members. It is already obvious how the Caodaist community in Tay Ninh was bound by
religious ties. Indeed, these rituals which are practiced by the community as a whole
perform as a purely functional repetitive practice that integrates society by creating a
religious identity to lend sacred sanctions to social norms.
129
The ritualization and
routinization of Caodaist life further demonstrates how artificial kinship was developed
within the community. As with village-level, pre-industrial societies in which the
populace attended events revolving around the community, Caodaists were similarly
expected to engage in the life and family rituals of their religious peers, as well as
communal events celebrating the history of the institution that brought them together.
At the other end of Durkheims spectrum was the system of organic solidarity.
As the concept implies, efficiency was achieved through multiple specialized units
working in conjunction with one another. This dynamic was most noticeably observed
through Caodaisms hierarchy, which was systematized into three powers. The first

128
Caodai Overseas Missionary, A Summary of Cao Dai Rituals by Caodai Overseas Missionary.

129
Dror, Cult, Culture, and Authority, 6.
63

power was the Bat-Quai-Dai, which was more of a symbolic than tangible committee. It
consisted of the Heavenly Council of spirits governed by the Cao Dai.
130
For imperative
decisions concerning the religion, Caodiasts would solicit guidance from Bat-Quai-Dai
through sance communication. The Hiep-Thien-Dai was the branch for mediums and
was the Legislative Body for the religion. The branch was headed by the Ho-Phap
(Spiritual Pope) who was assisted by twelve Zodiacal dignitaries. The Hiep-Thien-Dai
was bestowed with the duty of dictating the laws and tenets of Caodaism based on the
Divine Messages they received from sance rituals. They also operated and taught
students inside Caodais School for Mediums.
The third and final branch was the Cuu-Trung-Dai which took care of the
administrative and day-to-day maintenance of the Caodai community. In line with
Caodaisms syncretic approach to religion, one of the features the Cuu-Trung-Dai
adapted from Catholicism was a ranking scheme that included: One Administrative Pope
(Giao-Tong) to lead the executive body, three Legislative Cardinals (Chuong-Phap) to
decide on religious laws, three Cardinals (Dau-Su) to direct the behavior of disciples,
thirty-six Archbishops (Phoi-Su) to manage the congregational districts, seventy-two
Bishops (Giao-Su) to educate disciples, three-thousand Priests (Giao-Huu) to preside
over ceremonies in provincial temples, unlimited numbers of Student Priests (Le-Sanh),
unlimited numbers of Sub-dignitaries (Chuc-Viec), and unlimited Adepts (Tin-Do) or
basic followers of Cao Dai.
131
In keeping with its overall theme of egalitarianism, entry

130
Cao, Chnh. Dai Dao va dong tu phap [The Great Way and religious practice] (Saigon VN: 1929).

131
Hum Dac Bui and Ngasha Beck, Cao Dai: Faith of Unity (Fayetteville Ar.: Emerald
Wave, 2000), 27.
64

into these administrative levels was open to all followers. Adherents typically spent
about five years in each position before he/she was eligible for promotion. Even then,
there were tedious rituals involved, concluding in a sance approval from the spirit world
to determine ones passage.
Not all aspects of the religions hierarchy were borrowed from Catholicism,
however, as the system of distributing duties based on ones religious path was entirely a
Caodai convention. Upon entering the Tay Ninh community, one would have
immediately noticed the variety of colored robes that certain followers wore. While
white-colored robes were worn by the general laity, those employed in senior positions
would have been seen in either a scarlet, saffron, or azure-colored robe. These colors
were used to specify the tam-giao (Three Devotions of Vietnam) religious branch in
which dignitaries belonged.
132
Confucian (Ngoc) adherents wore scarlet robes, Taoists
wore saffron, and finally Buddhists wore azure. However, the significance of these
distinctions went far beyond an individuals religious affinity, which was again usually
determined at ones inception ritual. Caodaists also believed that each religious tradition
performed certain tasks more effectively than others.
133
Within this system,
Confucianism symbolized authority and reflected their role in administrating over
personnel, rites, and religious order. Those from the Buddhist (Thai) branch signified the
quality of virtue, which highlighted their responsibility of overseeing public works
projects, finances, and exchanges within the Cao Dai community. Lastly, those from the

132
Thanh Ngon Hiep Tuyen, Phap Chanh Truyen, 87.

133
Thanh Ngon Hiep Tuyen, Phap Chanh Truyen, 259-281.
65

Taoist (Thuong) branch were most proficient in supervising Cao Dais education
curriculum and welfare/charity institutions, due to their predisposition towards
righteousness.
Caodaisms approach of delineating specific tasks most suitable for its
constituents may have explained how the religion was successful in its relatively
autonomous governance over the Tay Ninh community. Just as crucial, however, was the
ability to maintain this system, which was most efficient with strong communal solidarity.
In summary, the structural qualities of Caodaism allowed the religion to enjoy the
benefits of both modes of solidarity. By promoting horizontal unity through standardized
routines and rituals, Caodaists were able to maintain the stability offered in traditional,
communal societies. At the same time, the organization of Caodaism into networks of
specialized departments delegated specific roles for individuals to perform within society.
Thus, Caodaists were able to achieve a level of efficiency and autonomy characterized by
modern societies.

Caodaism from the Periphery
The previous section portrayed the culmination of Caodaists efforts into turning
their religion into an established institution. This section, however, begins with the
religions decline due to a series of historical events. As most Caodaists today would
agree, the end of the religions formative years occurred in 1941, the point which marked
a vast departure from the religions initial goal of universal love. Political circumstances
abroad and at home led to a re-envisioning of Caodaisms message. As a result of the
66

German occupation in France, the colonial governments ability to establish
communication with the metropole was severed. This, of course, translated to a lack of
clear direction on how to deal with Frances colonies abroad.
Among Caodiasts, it had been predicted through sances as early as 1937 that the
Japanese would be the ones who would help the Vietnamese liberate themselves from
colonial oppression and that Caodaism would become the state religion in the new
Vietnam.
134
In July of 1941, Japanese troops made their way into the Northern
protectorate of Tonkin and forced the French colonial government to recognize Japanese
interests in Indochina. To the surprise of the Vietnamese, and especially the Caodaists,
Japanese forces allowed the French colonial government to maintain its operations in
Vietnam. Hoping to contain the situation from getting worse, Admiral Jean Decoux, the
then Governor-General of French Indochina started a campaign to prevent the Caodaists
from making contact with the Japanese. On July 27, 1941, Pope Pham Cong Tac and five
other dignataries were arrested and sent into exile in Madagascar. On September 27,
French colonial police were able to seize the Holy See in Tay Ninh, giving Caodaists
twenty-four hours to vacate the temple and hand over all administrative buildings to the
French colonial government.
135
Tran Quang Vinh, then the leader of Caodais Overseas
Mission in Cambodia, would assume the role of temporary pope in place of Pham
Cong Tac. Incited by anti-French sentiment and realizing the colonial governments

134
Dean Meyers and My-Van Tran, The Crisis of the Eighth Lunar Month: The Cao Dai, Prince Cuong De
and the Japanese in 1937-1939" IJAPS 2 (May 2006): 8.

135
Canh Tran, Brief Outline of History and Philosophy of Caodaism (Presentation at the IARF 31
st

World Congress in Budapest, Hungary, August 2, 2002) http://
lecaodaisme.free.fr/caodainet/English/Htm/IARF_Budapest.htm (accessed May 5, 2010).
67

vulnerability, Caodaists became enticed with the prospects of finally ending their colonial
relationship with France.
Under guidance that he received from a sance on October 28, 1942, to save the
religion and save the nation (cuu Dao cuu Doi) Tran Quang Vinh began forming the
Caodai Army in Cambodia.
136
For Caodaism, which saw its purpose as a group
designated to uplift Vietnam, this meant that they were able to make an exception to their
ideal of universal love to achieve this purpose. In November of 1942, Vinh would also
sign onto an agreement with Japanese Kempeitai forces, which entailed Japanese
protection of the religion in exchange for Caodai laborers to work at Japanese-supervised
shipyards in Cochinchina.
137
It also carried an unspoken agreement that the Japanese
would allow Caodaists to take part in the French coup when the time was appropriate.
On March 9, 1945, sensing that the tide of the war changing in both the Europe and
Pacific frontiers, Japanese troops, along with about 3,000 Caodaists, initiated the coup
against the French. The Caodaists were armed with bamboo spears and primarily tasked
with sabotaging French communication/intelligence lines, providing sentries to
government administrative buildings, and distributing supplies to the Japanese.
Vietnams moment of independence was short-lived, however, as the French
sought to reclaim their colony immediately after the end of WWII. To make matters
worse for Caodaists, they found a new enemy in the Viet Minh, a group still resentful for

136
Tran, Japan and Vietnams Caodaists, 184.

137
Sergei Blagov, Caodai Army: One can not defend a dominion with a rosary in hand. http://
lecaodaisme.free.fr/caodainet/English/Htm/Caodai_army.htm (accessed May 5, 2010).
68

the religions collaboration with the Japanese.
138
North and Central Vietnamese, from
which most of the Viet Minh were comprised of, were still reeling from the 1944 and
1945 famines largely caused by J apanese rice procurement.
139
The growing tension
between the two groups worsened during the French Indochina War (1946-1954) with the
capture of Tran Quang Vinh by French police on J une 6, 1946. French authorities forced
Vinh to sign a Franco-Caodaist alliance on June 9, which in turn released Pham Cong Tac
from exile and reopened the Holy See. This move effectively ended any chance of
reconciliation with the Viet Minh, which began carrying out attacks against the Caodaists
as well as the French. According to Sergei Blagov, more than 40,000 Caodaists were
killed by numerous Viet Minh between 1945 and 1954, including whole villages that
were buried alive.
140
With subsequent oppressive policies against Caodaists from the
South Vietnam government headed by the pro-Catholic Ngo Dinh Diem administration,
the decades of the American War (1954-1975) marked the beginning of the end of
Caodaisms public influence in Vietnam. Despite its ambitious mission of global
prosyletization, Caodaists were unable to overcome the turbulent socio-political
developments happening around them.
After the Fall of Saigon in 1975, two different Caodai trajectories developed, the
first of which denotes the further decay of the religion due to post-1975 Communist
policies that limited the religions ability to practice its rituals and halted its
prosyletization efforts. The second narrative examines how diasporic communities have

138
Minh Dung Bui, Japans Role in the Vietnamese Starvation of 1944-45, Modern Asian Studies 29.3
(July 1995): 575.

140
Blagov, Caodai Army.
69

adapted Caodaism to function outside of the religious center in Tay Ninh, despite the
inherent difficulties of transposing a cultural institution into a new environment.
In regards to Communist policy after 1975, one of the states immediate aims was
to hinder the ability for religions to coordinate mass followings. On November 11, 1977,
Decree No. 297 was passed which placed all religious institutions under the control of the
state.
141
More than 400 Caodai temples were seized and most of them were converted by
state authorities into factories or other state-projects (e.g. amusement parks).
142

Furthermore, in observance of the states policy against irrational and superstitious
religious practices, Caodaist sance rituals and many Caodai festivals were outlawed.
This resulted in the effective stagnation of the religion since most Caodai decisions
required approval from spirit communication. One of the issues that arises from the
inability to carry out sance rituals is the deterioration of the religions hierarchical
structure. Since the appointment of religious dignitaries must be officially approved via
spirit communication, there has not been a single, official replacement by the religion
since the law forbidding the sance ritual came into effect in 1977. Thus, Caodaists have
been forced to leave many of these positions empty or create temporary appointments to
replace the aging group of dignitaries. Although the introduction of the doi-moi reforms
in 1986 has since eased some of these restrictions, Caodaists still face disproportionate

141
Sergei Blagov,Caodaism in Vietnam: A Case Study of the Communist Governments Policy Towards
Religions, (Presentation at the IARF 31
st
World Congress in Budapest, Hungary, August 2, 2002)
http://lecaodaisme.free.fr/caodainet/English/Htm/IARF_
Budapest.htm (accessed May 5, 2010).

142
U.S. Department of State, International Religious Freedom Report 2009: Vietnam (Washington, DC:
Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, 2009).
70

constraints compared to Vietnams other main religions.
143
According to the most recent
Annual Report on International Religious Freedom, some of the government controls that
remain in place include limits on congregational size, the number of religious materials
published, the ability of Caodaist practitioners to travel abroad for prosyletization
purposes, and the training of new clergymen.
144
These controls are overseen by a state-
appointed administrative unit specially formulated to monitor Caodaists activities. It
comes as no surprise that Caodai membership has dropped significantly since 1975,
constituting only 1 percent of Vietnams total population according to current
estimates.
145

The difficulties experienced from the center of Caodaism also influenced the
unique challenges facing diasporic communities as they attempt to reconstruct their faith.
Indeed, many of Caodaism inherent vulnerabilities could only be fully grasped in the
context of diaspora. The most obvious dilemmas are of course, the lack of an official
overseas hierarchy as well as the lack of an institutional center. It is ironic that many of
these difficulties arise from the religions structural barriers that were implemented to
strengthen the religion. In 1936, as a means of distinguishing the Tay Ninh branch from
other Cao Dai branches, an official decision was made by the Tay Ninh temple that
proclaimed only sance rituals (to speak with the Cao Dai) held within the confines of the

143
The Doi-Moi reforms were a set of government policies implemented in 1986 to save the Vietnamese
economy from complete collapse. The reforms included economic policies that helped liberalize Vietnams
trading markets which opened the door for foreign investment. Along with these reforms was an easing of
restrictions on individual liberties.

144
U.S. Department of State, International Religious Freedom Report 2009: Vietnam.

145
U.S. Department of State. International Religious Freedom Report 2009: Vietnam.
71

Holy See were to be deemed authentic.
146
This places overseas Caodaists at a
disadvantage for the 1936 law essentially prohibits them from reconstructing an authentic
institution on par with the Tay Ninh Temple. Whereas, Caodaists in Vietnam are not
allowed to conduct sance rituals under state laws, overseas Caodaists are inhibited from
performing these rituals due to regulations implemented by the religion itself. Caodaists
are still able to conduct sances with lesser spirits, however, the location of these rituals
would never be able to match the spiritual affinity afforded by the Tay Ninh temple,
which was specifically situated and built to exact divine specifications to ward off evil
spirits.
Despite these challenges both within Vietnam and abroad, many Caodaists have
come to realize that Vietnamese diasporic communities are actually serving the interests
of Caodaism and that diasporic communities are integral in resuscitating the religion in
the homeland. If the ultimate goal of Caodaism is to generate world harmony by
spreading cross-cultural awareness, overseas Caodaists are able to play a unique role in
performing this mission. As with the original founders of Caodaism, overseas Caodaists
are comprised of a new generation of individuals who are situated between two poles. At
one end, they have been forced to abandon the spiritual center of their moral system, yet
attempt to maintain this tradition by supporting Caodaism in Vietnam from the outside.
At the other end, they are witness to the decay of their tradition due to powers that lie
beyond their own ability to control, yet see this as an opportunity to reinvent the Caodai
religion from outside of its center in Tay Ninh. Indeed, scholars such as Donal Miller

146
Hartney, Institutionalising Spiritism and The Esoteric.
72

have attributed this to the concept of segmented assimilation in which preservation of
immigrants own values and promotion of national solidarity with the homeland are
compatible with assimilation to American culture. Thus, under this model, religion has
two social roles, not one, and they are not contradictory in an era of global
connectedness.
147
However, it would be misguided to try and delineate todays
Caodaists onto one side or the other since both ends are part of the tension that overseas
Caodaists must embody. This seems to indicate a developing hybrid identity that is
characterized by inner conflict over the role that diasporic Caodaists should play.
Overseas Caodaists have attempted to preserve the religion in Vietnam. Much of
this effort has to do with the ways with which the 35,000 Caodaists outside of Vietnam
have spread awareness of their religion in recent times.
148
Much like the Caodai founders,
todays Caodaists are using innovative tools to carry out their mission. Whereas the
founders experimented with a mix of Western and Asian devices and techniques,
overseas Caodaists are using mediums that embody a global reach. As far as publications,
there was a point in time in which the only translated source one could find was an
introductory book about Caodai written by Gabriel Gobron. One can today find hundreds
of internet sites devoted to Caodaism, with links to most of Caodaisms religious texts
translated into multiple languages. There are also efforts to translate the memoirs and
biographies of early Caodaist religious figures. Indeed, Janet Hoskins has written about
the emergence of several Caodai temples in California and how these communities are

147
Donald E. Miller, Immigrant Religion in the City of Angels (Los Angeles: USC Center for Religion and
Civic Culture, 2001).

148
Alam, Cao Dai Understanding of God.
73

spreading awareness of the religion by translating Caodai texts into English. These
communities are also shaping the religion back in Vietnam by raising money for native
Vietnamese Caodaists to use in rebuilding their temples.
149
A more direct way in which
overseas Caodaists are shaping the religion in Vietnam is by promoting the Tay Ninh
temple as a Vietnamese cultural site. Indeed, many travel brochures often list the Holy
See as one of Vietnams unique travel destinations, most likely due to its distinctive
architectural style. This not only brings in much needed income for the Tay Ninh
community, but it also draws attention to the states suppressive policies against
Caodaism and curbs any chances of the state committing public acts of repression, lest
the state lose one if its more profitable sources of outside income.
Along with this push to preserve Caodaism, there is also recognition among
overseas Caodaists that the Tay Ninh temple may never regain the ability to resume its
sance rituals and that there are new geographically-bound challenges that diasporic
communities must face. Even if the Holy See were able to conduct its rituals, one
concern among overseas Caodaists is the question of whether or not the center would be
able to effectively handle such a diverse array of worldwide communities. While the
Holy See was able to manage the Caodai branches in Vietnam, there were a host of legal
and social considerations that must be made according to the locale of the Caodai
community. Christopher Hartney describes one example of how Caodaist congregation

149
Janet Hoskins, A Religious Vision of the Fall of Saigon: History and Prophecy in Caodaism in
California and Vietnam, (Paper Prepared for UC Riverside Conference on 30 Years Beyond the War:
Vietnamese Studies, etc.) http://www.caodai.org/forum/ viewmessage.aspx?ForumDetailID=72 (accessed
May 5, 2010).
74

in Australia encountered difficulties in the construction of its temple.
150
While Hartney
mentions how the building of the temple was able to bring the Vietnamese-Australian
community together, he also noted the problems the Caodaists encountered as far as
parking regulations and building height restrictions. Furthermore, Hartney mentions how
if a Caodaist from Vietnam were to inspect the building he or she would see that some
parts of it are very Australian, due to the local materials used that reflect the Australian
architectural aesthetics.
151
To deal with more localized problems such as this example,
there has been a growing discourse amongst overseas Caodaists to establish a separate
hierarchy from that created by the Holy See.
Returning to the discussion about Caodai websites, one is able to now find an
official Overseas Caodai Missionary webpage operated and maintained by a collection
of Caodaist temples in California.
152
Of course, there was no sanctioned way of
communicating with the Cao Dai to approve of this new branch. However, the Tay Ninh
community has never publicly challenged the California temples and many Caodaists
actually feel that the U.S. should be the location of Caodais Overseas Missionary.
153
In
his book, Caodaism a Novel Religion, Hum Dac Bui states that it was always the intent
for Cao Dai to spread the religion outwards and thus the U.S. was destined to become the

150
Chris Hartney, Why be a Caodai Scholar? http://english.caodai.net/index.php?
option=com_content&view=article&id=55:Why%20be%20a%20Caodai%20scholar%20?&catid=35:Vario
us%20Essays&Itemid=60 (accessed May 5, 2010).

151
Hartney, Why be a Caodai Scholar?

152
Dai Dao Tam Ky Pho Do, History of Caodai. http://caodai.org/pages/?pageID=20 (accessed May 5,
2010).

153
Sergei, Blagov, Caodaism in Vietnam: Religion vs. Restrictions and Persecution. (Presentation at the
IARF World Congress in Vancouver, Canada, July 31, 1999) http://
lecaodaisme.free.fr/caodainet/English/Htm/Caodai_inVN_SB.htm (accessed May 5, 2010).
75

new center for the religion.
154
In a collection of interviews with Vietnamese-American
Caodaists, Janet Hoskins observes how many overseas Caodaists are beginning to
reinterpret the events of the Fall of Saigon in 1975 to reflect this optimist view of
Caodaisms global dissemination. In one interview with her informant, Do Vang Ly,
Hoskins records:
The fall of Saigon was predestined, he now says, since the communist
victory was a way of testing Caodaists and dispersing them throughout the
world to learn more. He now believes that the Vietnamese educated in
America are the ones who can carry the torch of eastern mysticism and
morality and western freedom and democracy, lighting the way for a new
form of peace that will conquer the world.
155


Many of her other informants echoed the need for there to be a U.S. branch to supplement
Tay Ninh, including one that claimed that U.S. Caodaists should begin holding sances
with Ly Thai Bach, the spirit that guided Le Van Trung into the religion, as the deciding
deity for the Overseas Missionary. Thus, the Caodaists in the U.S. would not technically
be in violation with Tay Ninh regulations.
It is clear that in the case of todays Caodaism, there is a rise in the importance of
the peripheries in both sustaining and advancing the religion. It is within these outside
communities that we are witnessing activities that will in turn shape how the religion is
ultimately recognized. Caodaists remain hopeful, however, since the religion has always
looked to build towards the future rather than prioritizing its past. In his book, The Role
of Religion in Ethnic Self-Identity, Paul Rutledge believes religion becomes part of ones
link to tradition, that religion fills the primary role of reconnecting severed ties with the

154
Bui, Cao Dai: Faith of Unity, 12.

155
Hoskins, A Religious Vision of the Fall of Saigon: History and Prophecy in Caodaism in California and
Vietnam.
76

past.
156
However, this idea seems to contradict with Caodaisms aims, in that the
religion is rooted in the belief that humanity inches ever closer towards utopia and
universal brotherhood. In this sense, it is that which is most capable to reaching this
point that is most important. As this capacity finds itself being diminished in the center
at Tay Ninh, the responsibility falls upon outside communities to determine the fate of
Caodiasm. Furthermore, this fate is once again in the hands of unique individuals who are
caught between two extremes. It is not just their ethnic or cultural composition that
makes overseas Caodaists hybrids in their new terrains. They also embody two distinct
futures, one which motivates them to safeguard their religious tradition and the other
which allows them to create something entirely new. As previous instances might
indicate, it is the negotiation of these two extremes that attest to the Caodaist identity.

156
Paul Rutledge, The Role of Religion in Ethnic Self-identity (New York: University Press of America,
1985), 27.
77

CONCLUSION

As a final thought, it may be appropriate to come back full circle to Bernard Falls
comments on the end of Caodaism. In hindsight, one can say that Falls prediction on
Caodaism was at least half correct. The 1975 Communist states policy against religions
like Caodaism, certainly cast doubts about the faiths future viability. However, Fall
could not have predicted the massive diaspora of Vietnamese peoples and the effect that
these diasporic communities would have in reviving the religion from outside. The
general assumption would stress Caodaisms cultural-rootedness or its limited locality as
factors inhibiting its worldwide dissemination. However, this is most likely due to an
exaggeration of the unique and quirky facets of Caodaism, namely an emphasis on the
religions eclectic spiritism. However, spiritism is not the force that is sustaining the
religion today. Instead, the experience of diaspora highlights a unique facet of Caodaism:
its ability to hybridize and adapt new cultural factors into its religion.
With the exception of the nostalgic minority now making their way back to
Vietnam (Viet Kieu), those a part of the post-1975 Vietnamese Diaspora have become
increasingly and irreversibly embedded within their respective communities around the
world. What was once thought of as a temporary relocation due to unstable political
events in the homeland has led to the realization that these foreign environments have
become the permanent residences to which future generations will constitute their
livelihoods. Furthermore, they have begun the process of implanting their own cultural
78

traditions into an environment that is wholly different from where these traditions
originated.
The period in which Caodaism emerged was as much about the contestation of the
Vietnamese identity as it was a colonial conflict. At stake was the form that the
Vietnamese identity would take if it were to survive the period of French colonization.
For it to survive, the Vietnamese realized the need for many of its institutions to be
reformed. Religion, of course, was not shielded from this torrent of change. Caodaism
relied upon an eclectic pantheon of Vietnamese deities and historical figures, erected
Vietnam-centric institutions of sacrality, and was shaped by periods of Western
manipulation and Communist suppression. In many ways, Caodaism is itself a reflection
of not just the experiences of modern 20
th
century Vietnam, but of any community that
finds itself in a new environment with new socio-political forces to contend with. For the
religion to survive the onslaught of political turbulence and even to be transplanted
outside of Vietnam is a testament of its adaptability and ingenuity. What was required
was not a complete overhaul of customs, mindsets, and cultural values, but a
consideration and open-mindedness towards other cultural systems. At the root of
Caodaist doctrine was the virtue of tolerance which embodied the distinct form of the
religion. Indeed, despite the complex hierarchies and religious practices within Caodaism,
their message which stressed a willingness to learn about other cultural forms is a simple
yet profound lesson that can be universally understood.



79

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86

VITA


Duc Huynh was born in Virginia Beach, Virginia, but spent most of his life in
New Orleans, Louisiana. In May of 2007, he received his Bachelor of Science degree at
Tulane University in the majors of Environmental Biology and Asian Studies. During his
time in the Asian Studies Department of The University of Texas, Duc participated and
also helped organize a number of conferences and talks. In the summer of 2009, he was
chosen to lead teaching courses at Can-Tho University in Vietnam through the ICVE
Program. Duc is currently seeking a Master of Arts degree in the major of Asian Cultures
and Languages.

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This thesis was composed by the author.